AG真人平台

2022 Preservation Awards Blog Banner

Location

Los Angeles, CA

Owner

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Design Architect

Renzo Piano Building Workshop

Architect

Gensler

View

Two MATT AG真人平台 Receive Chair’s Awards at L.A. Conservancy’s 2022 Preservation Awards

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and the Herald Examiner Building are recognized for excellence in restoration

Since 1982, the L.A. Conservancy has recognized some of Los Angeles County鈥檚 most remarkable efforts to preserve architecturally and culturally significant historic resources鈥搒howcasing the power of historic preservation as a beacon of past and future. Recently, two MATT projects鈥搕he Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and the Herald Examiner Building鈥揾ave been recognized as 2022 Chair Award winners. The winners will be honored at the this coming October. The Los Angeles Conservancy is a nonprofit membership organization whose mission is to recognize, preserve, and revitalize the historic architectural and cultural resources of Los Angeles County.

Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

The Academy Museum is located in the former Wilshire May Company Building, now renamed the Saban Building. This Art Deco Streamline Moderne landmark was built in 1939 and was once one of Los Angeles鈥檚 largest and most elegant department stores. The building won landmark status in 1992, due to the concerted efforts of the L.A. Conservancy.

Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Photo by Joshua White, JWPictures/漏Academy Museum Foundation

The Academy Museum has served as a vital preservation and adaptive reuse initiative of this community landmark, maintaining the building鈥檚 fa莽ade in its Streamline Moderne splendor. The Saban Building鈥檚 restoration crew retained, cleaned and repaired 95.7% of the building鈥檚 original limestone cladding, 51% of the granite and 65% of the gold-glass mosaic. Involving everything from sleuthing through historical records, to testing solutions in laboratories, to scouring surfaces for defects with ultra-high-definition lenses, to good, old-fashioned elbow grease, the salvation effort restored the May Company to its original grandeur, keeping its history alive for the next generation of Angelenos to enjoy and granting it a new chapter as the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

Herald Examiner Building

The Herald Examiner Building first opened its doors in 1914 and became a downtown Los Angeles icon. Sadly, it sat vacant for years after printing its last edition in 1989, with film sets ghosting in and out of the once buzzing space. The building was the first collaboration between newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst and Julia Morgan, AIA鈥檚 first female member.

In collaboration with co-owners Hearst Corp., developer Georgetown Partners and Main Street Advisors, the team executed the restoration, renovation, modernization, and seismic strengthening of the Herald Examiner Budling鈥檚 core and shell to its former glory and repositioned it for mixed use, without affecting the historical fabric of the building. This revitalized historic landmark is now bustling with activity and new life.

MATT Construction looks forward to celebrating both of these incredible projects alongside the rest of the project teams at the 2022 Preservation Awards on October 13th, 2022.

Back to Top