Conversion to Mini-Mall Uses Streamline Approach

Rather than creating “another faceless” mini-mall, architect Peter Devereaux came up with a design that preserved the Streamline Moderne style of a 1940-vintage supermarket.

And instead of an unsightly parking lot in front, the architect’s plan for La Cienega Square, at the northeast corner of La Cienega and Pico boulevards, put 120 parking spaces in the rear and sidewalks in front.

“A sidewalk in front of the shops, with the parking in the rear, emphasizes the importance of the pedestrian street scene rather than the typical mini-mall approach of featuring a parking lot right in front,” he said. Devereaux is a partner and director of design at Fields & Silverman Architects AIA, Los Angeles.

The $12-million renovation and expansion used three other buildings besides the market, and was done for the developer, Emser International.

Attributed to architect Stiles Clements, the supermarket had deteriorated in recent years, Devereaux said. He calls the structure’s architectural style Art Deco, while David Gebhard in his “Architecture in Los Angeles” calls it Streamline Moderne.

“Art Deco is a term that often includes the Streamline Moderne variation,” Devereaux said.

Popular from the 1930s through the late-1940s, this architectural style and the related Art Deco are both well represented in Los Angeles.

Streamline Moderne conjures up images of 1930s movies like “Topper,” cars like the Lincoln Zephyr and the Chrysler Airflow, trains like the 20th Century Limited and the Burlington Zephyr.

The Pan Pacific Auditorium, to the northeast of La Cienega Square, is an example of Streamline Moderne architecture in Los Angeles.

One aspect of the renovation though clashes: The gigantic, pole-mounted double-sided billboard that rises overhead.

The lease for the billboard has several years to run, so the renovation had to work around it, Devereaux explained.

The five brothers who own Emser International could have torn down the building and put up a mini-mall, but they listened to their neighbors--and future customers--and decided to pursue the adaptive-reuse route.

The renovation was combined with additional new retail space in a renovated building--actually three buildings combined into one--to the north, fronting La Cienega Boulevard.

Sam Ghodsian of Emser International said that 75% of the 50,000 square feet in La Cienega Square has been leased to such tenants as West Side Market, CVS Drugs, 20/20 Video, Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream, L. A. Eye Style, Radio Shack and Toy Warehouse.