Morphosis Wins Big

Staff -- Interior Design, 12/1/2001 12:00:00 AM

Thom Mayne and his Santa Monica-based firm, Morphosis, have won the design/build competition for the Caltrans regional headquarters, beating out celebrated architects including Rem Koolhaas and Benedetta Tagliabue. The commission will encompass 747,000 sq. ft. for 2,100 employees. Mayne's plan for work areas, according to Mike Zari, project director for the California Department of Transportation, is based on a bull-pen environment similar to ad agency interiors popular in the 1970s. The 15-story building will be metal-clad with a system of metal scrims and punched windows. Preliminary plans for the art include a neon and fiber-optic installation, keyed to the specifics of the architecture. "Tom captivated the jury with his own added flavor of design and his desire to be flexible," Zari comments. Construction starts in spring 2000 and is slated for completion in 2004.