Cathay Bank decided to move their existing corporate headquarters from China Town, Los Angeles, to a 7-story building east of Los Angeles in El Monte, CA. The goal of the project was to reflect the strength and stability of the bank, while giving their brand a more contemporary look and feel. Gensler was hired as the architect to completely transform the dated building into a sleek, Class-A building, with a beautiful floating glass facade and Asian theme.
The challenges posed on this project were maintaining the design integrity of the interiors vs. the challenges of the existing building core systems; such as the building HVAC duct work system. How we accomplished this was by communicating together on the site with all team members present to field measure, sketch, create overlays and resolve all challenges that arose. None of the concrete columns throughout the building were squared or plum which created many challenges on having a consistent look for each floor. We took each floor and field measured each drapery pocket per floor to maintain the alignment and integrity of the design.
The challenges with the existing elevator shaft were that it too was askew which also needed to have precise measurements and monitoring from our field staff so as not to seriously affect the layout of the offices.
Team work, communication and attention to detail were extremely important with this project. This is the main reason why the Cathay Bank project was a success.