Photography: Ray Kachatorian

A 1930s warehouse has been transformed into a state-of-the art ‘music village’ in Los Angeles – complete with acoustic pods.

Non profit organisation Silverlake Conservatory of Music has moved into its new digs on Hollywood Boulevard, following the adaptive reuse of the red brick warehouse building by Bestor Architects.

Silverlake Music Conservatory
Photography: Ray Kachatorian

‘We wanted to mix the character of old Hollywood with contemporary Hollywood,’ says practice principal Barbara Bestor. ‘The juxtaposition between historic architectural elements and surprising shape, colour, and pattern, is captivating.’

Bestor Architecture exposed the old cosmetics building’s bowstring truss ceiling, and inserted freestanding pods within the space to house music studios and practice spaces.

Each pod is made from materials selected for their acoustic quality – even the light fixtures are made of wood instead of metal, while hard floors have been softened by noise-absorbing carpet. Their roofline also evokes the form of the row-house, ‘a successful historic model for defining private spaces within a collective unit of volume,’ says the practice.

Elsewhere there’s a dedicated performance space – the ‘town square’ – which can host 150 people, and has a flexible acoustic that caters for everything from classical music to rock and choir performances.

Silverlake Conservatory of Music – founded in 2001 by Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, childhood friend Keith ‘Tree’ Barry, and Peter Weiss – offers performance and practice space for children, adult students and practicing musicians. Its new facility is eight times larger than the organisation’s former storefront home, and can accommodate twice the amount of students.

[Via Designboom]

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