Saiful Bouquet is the structural engineer for the new $45 Million Entertainment Technology complex on the corner of Westlawn Avenue and Millennium Drive in Playa Vista. The 66,000 sq. ft. three-story complex will house two large screening rooms (‘The Big Deal’ and ‘The Big Big Deal’) and a formal area for private screenings.
The production space and screening rooms will accommodate evolving technology in the filmmaking industry. To accommodate the structural requirements of IMAX’s vision, the big box theaters are built over a parking structure with a floating floor slab and extensively soundproofed isolated walls and ceilings, each structurally 67’ tall. A large warehouse and shop was also built over the parking structure to accommodate large loads from archived films.
A grand lobby connects the lower level parking with two workplace floors by an atrium with an interior amphitheater located under a large skylight. This high volume entrance also serves as the entrance leading to the ‘Big’ Theater and ‘Big Big’ Theater. The seismic system for the building consists of Special Concentric Brace frames, and the foundation system uses the proprietary deWaal displacement pile system. The special pile system was used to resolve multiple site constraints, including construction noise and vibration, liquefiable soils, and high ground water with potential contamination issues.
