Prada Epicenter by Office for Metropolitan Architecture, United States

October 13, 2009 Category: Commercial Building, Retail

The Prada Epicenter is fashionable design for Prada in Beverley Hills, California, United States was designed by Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). In the late 1990s, as part of its strategy to protect the brand, Prada, the international fashion house based in Milan, Italy, began to rethink the format of the traditional design of its stores detail. Breaks new strategy from the model in a traditional way to store the innovative technology known as commercial spaces epicenters. Following our collaboration on the stores in Manhattan, the epicenter second Beverly Hills is a welcome opportunity for Arup providing structural, mechanical, electrical and public health services to achieve the vision of the architect.

Defining features include a “disappearing” façade, changing rooms made from PDLC (Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystals) glass, special sponge iron walls and a glass roof. The construction of an all-glass roof sloping demand careful scrutiny. Its structure is fully exposed to work with aspects: architecture, mechanical and electrical building. Our solution was a series of frames of steel tubes set covering the entire width of the building that also provide a seismic resistant membrane for the roof, a mounting surface for thelighting matches and a little shade house.

A particularly important architectural feature was the disappearance innovative wall ‘on the ground floor. It consists of a wall covered with aluminum elevator that descends into the basement where the store is open. It is necessary to monitor the energy losses from the opening in the winter and provide a comfortable environment in summer. The solution was a curtain large-scale air. It provides air conditioning not when the outside temperature is above 65° F and uses spare capacity heating to temper the air curtain supply air to 65° F when it’s cold.

Prada Epicenter by Office for Metropolitan Architecture in Beverley Hills California United States