Located on the former Woolworth Drugstore site south of historic Old Pasadena, Western Asset Plaza is a new five-story Class A office building totaling approximately 260,000 square feet, constructed over three levels of subterranean parking totaling 772 parking spaces. The building is built around a central plaza which allows space for ground floor retail to spread from the interior to the outside, creating a mix of activity by visitors and tenants at the street-level.
Saiful Bouquet introduced an innovative dual system of eccentric braced frames and moment-resisting frames in the steel superstructure, which improved the anticipated seismic performance of the structure while reducing structural steel costs. Eccentric braced frames were located at the building cores to minimize architectural impact. Special shear reinforcing was implemented in the design of the flat plate parking slabs to eliminate drop panels, reduce construction cost and schedule. As part of the project, the original historic Woolworth Drugstore façade was saved and reconstructed on a freestanding courtyard wall.
