LA Story: Landscape Mediates Private and Public Lives 
{"autoplay":"true","autoplay_speed":"8000","speed":"1000","arrows":"true","dots":"false","loop":"true","nav_slide_column":5,"rtl":"false"}
{"autoplay":"true","autoplay_speed":"8000","speed":"1000","arrows":"true","dots":"false","loop":"true","nav_slide_column":5,"rtl":"false"}

DETAILS

LocationBeverly Hills, CA United States
ClientGensler Architects
Size9 acres

In collaboration with SWA The Waldorf and Hilton enterprises combined forces to revitalize their Art Deco-inspired Beverly Hills hotels with fresh, more sustainable landscapes. SWA designed custom planters for the Waldorf entry drive and exterior garden of the Beverly Hilton, leveraging the concept of a “veil” to organize a series of hedges and screens that buffer interior guest activity from the bustling urban life of Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevards.  At the terrace and balcony levels, plantings set behind a guardrail provide filtered views of the exterior, while functioning as a privacy element for the interior. Three distinct spaces (dubbed the Green Carpet, the California Terrace, and the Secret Garden) form unique “rooms” within the public spaces around the pool deck and roof bar. The Green Carpet event area features a 1,500-square-foot living wall, and the Secret Garden is the new home for many of the salvaged specimen palms and cycads on the property. On the roof, strategically placed screen walls and hedges offer privacy while providing a lush landscape along the hotels’ public-facing edges.

Related Projects

Hyatt Gainey Ranch

The 28-acre site is part of an existing master planned resort community. The golf course and lake were existing. The owner wanted water gardens and had in mind tropical gardens with artificial rocks and rope bridges. The designers convinced the owner that a concept that recalled ancient South American themes was more appropriate for the desert. Lines of date p...

W Hotel Palm Dubai

Positioned on the outer ring of Palm Jumeirah, the W Hotel and neighboring residential towers celebrate the contrasting views to the city’s urban skyline in one direction… and to the infinite sea horizon in the other. These contrasting views droves the form and texture of design elements throughout the property, exemplified by the juxtaposition of geomet...

Beverly Hills Hotel

Serving as the symbolic heart of the City of Beverly Hills, the Beverly Hills Hotel is synonymous with its gardens. After 80 years of high use, the hotel needed complete rebuilding and modernization. The goal of the reconstruction was to preserve and restore the historic gardens while adding new public and private outdoor spaces around the southern and western...

Rosewood Sand Hill Hotel

SWA provided full landscape architectural services for this mixed-use development, which includes a 120-room luxury hotel, five villa residences, a supporting office complex, fitness center, spa and multi-use space. The Sand Hill Hotel and associated offices are nestled onto a dramatic hillside that slopes toward the Santa Cruz Mountains immediately beyond I-2...

W Hotel Palm Dubai

Positioned on the outer ring of Palm Jumeirah, the W Hotel and neighboring residential towers celebrate the contrasting views to the city’s urban skyline in one direction… and to the infinite sea horizon in the other. These contrasting views droves the form and texture of design elements throughout the property, exemplified by the juxtaposition of geomet...

Hyatt Gainey Ranch

The 28-acre site is part of an existing master planned resort community. The golf course and lake were existing. The owner wanted water gardens and had in mind tropical gardens with artificial rocks and rope bridges. The designers convinced the owner that a concept that recalled ancient South American themes was more appropriate for the desert. Lines of date p...

Kyoto Hotel

This project transforms an old elementary school site into an iconic destination for visitors and community. SWA reinterpreted the traditions and culture of Kyoto and proposed a poetic landscape design for this former schoolyard, transforming it into a welcoming community garden and courtyard.

The courtyard, as a public space, is designed simply, provid...

The Address Residence Dubai

The Address Residence is centrally located in Dubai’s Burj Opera District, adjacent to the Burj Khalifa and Lake, and along new waterfront retail development. In this fast-paced environment, the Address Dubai offers unparalleled luxury that inspires rest and relaxation. Whether you are a resident enjoying the pool with family, an art aficionado strolling in th...