This Malibu locale is the third in a global network of Design Lofts from the luxury car manufacturer Audi, positioning them closer to the heart of the city’s trend-setting car culture. We collaborated closely with the Audi team, programming the site and buildings for multiple scenarios and a variety of uses from day to night.

The new mezzanine with open workstations frees up space below to showcase a concept car during an event. New glass openings and doors expand connections, views and uses from indoor spaces to outside courtyards. The pavilion serves as a conference room, studio and gallery by day that completely opens outward, creating a backdrop for company gatherings and retreats.

The design maintains and celebrates the simplicity of the original building’s utilitarian steel frame and insulated panels. Material selections and details were inspired by the simplicity and utility of modernist mid-century industrial buildings, with the resulting minimal palette reflective of the Audi brand.

The design studio building is a functional one for Audi, reflecting the boundary-pushing designs and concepts of its vehicles. The studio was designed to accommodate an immersive and fully digital design process, equipped with state-of-the-art technology, including a VR area, high-resolution LED tile wall and video-conferencing meeting rooms.

This transformative project has seen an existing one-acre asphalt parking rehabilitated into a sustainable low-water garden of natives and drought-tolerant planting inspired by the local Santa Monica mountains. This landscape captures 100% stormwater on site and meets all local fire department planting requirements.