Santa Monica architect Hagy Belzberg’s first big break came right after he graduated. On leaving Harvard University's Graduate School of Design in 1991, Belzberg landed an internship in Frank Gehry’s office. He struck out on his own only three months later, building a practice – Belzberg Architects – whose small but rigorous residential and hospitality projects in Southern California hinted at bigger projects to come.

Belzberg is now building those bigger projects. To bring them to fruition, he employs young energetic talents – many still in their ’20s. Under his helm, they’ve recently completed an impressive roster of buildings – all of them in L.A, and all distinguished by a distinct grand gesture.

The Lab of Art and Ideas at Belmar (The Lab, for short), completed in 2006, features flexible workspaces and moveable elements, such as signposts, that signal its practical spirit. But its calling card is the so-called Aurae Wall, a bulbous foam tongue that protrudes through the glazed entrance, providing texture, light and shadow to the lobby. Likewise, the new Ahmanson Founders Room, a fundraising department for the Ahmanson Theatre in L.A, boasts a dramatic undulating wood wall. It immediately evokes a warm atmosphere for those who’ve ascended into the space from the stark parking garage below.

Perhaps the firm’s most lavish new project, the just-completed Skyline residence, also in L.A., comprises a single folded plane that encases the house like an envelope. Glassed in on every side, the house offers unobstructed views of L.A., Laurel Canyon and the San Fernando Valley. The stand-out element of surprise and delight: across from the main structure, the guest house’s exterior wall doubles as a projection screen for watching movies on the main house’s garage roof.

This sense of spectacle re-emerges in the firm’s designs for its upcoming works, which are larger in scale and scope. On the boards, currently, is a 28,000 square metre mixed-use development in Tucson, Arizona (to feature a sustainable ‘desert skin’); the Hotel Ray, a 60-room boutique hotel in Venice, California (slated to be LEED gold certified); and the Selma Offices, an 7,400 square metre mixed-used tower in Hollywood, California. Also on the horizon is the Belmar Tower, a rethinking of the big-box typology: the winner of a NextLA Design Award, it features a 60-metre-tall residential tower above a Target store.

With prospects like this, we'll definitely be keeping track of Belzberg. Meanwhile, check out the Q & A with Belzberg associate Brock DeSmit [below] for tips of how Belzberg's unique office culture keeps things fresh and creative, and watch for a review of the Ahmanson Founders Room in the Forms section of the March/April 2008 issue of Azure.

EP: When and how was the firm established?
BDS: The firm was officially established in 1997. Prior to that, Hagy worked for Frank Gehry, Barton Myers and later collaborated on various projects with individual architects. Belzberg Architects was created when a residential client asked Hagy to design and construct his home. Two years of architectural collaboration on a job-site inspired Hagy to develop an individual approach to design through construction experience.

EP: I noticed that most of the firm’s employees are still in their '20s. The web site mentions that the firm is “guided by the curiosity of Hagy Belzberg.” It sounds like a thinktank – one that produces incredibly creative work. Does Hagy Belzberg make a point of hiring young architects?
BDS: The office is run very much like a thinktank, and there is an emphasis on hiring young architects. There are many benefits to being a small, young firm: Fresh talent and a constantly renewed sensibility for design to name a couple. Hagy has not been too concerned with the experience level of his employees. Whether or not someone has put together a drawing set before, coordinated consultants or managed a construction site takes a back seat to their ability to advance the trajectory and creativity of the firm’s work.

EP: How much influence do the firm’s architects have over projects? How does the firm collaborate on design?
BDS: Once an individual begins working at the firm, they assume a management role over their own project, or are teamed up with a couple of others, and the responsibilities are divided accordingly. Hagy trusts his employees to handle the pressures and learn the skills necessary to carry out a project. While it is a risk, it is also a tremendous opportunity for each of the young architects to become accustomed to the process of project development – as well as what it takes for a firm to operate as a business.

What this also does is encourage each other to interact as a group trying to learn something together. The firm has been very non-hierarchical. While we have adjusted to the spurt of growth we’ve encountered in the last 6 months by hiring a couple of more experienced individuals, this was done strategically. The goal is to maintain the non-hierarchical nature of the firm and preserve an office culture we’ve all grown to enjoy.

The employees actually do the hiring here. It’s important for the team to receive a first impression and review the technical and creative capacity of a potential new team member, because it’s the team that will be interacting with that person on a daily basis. In turn, the young staff are responsible for the performance of the new hire and have an inherent interest in making sure they perform as expected.

EP: Who was the Skyline Residence designed for?
BDS: The house was designed for Hagy, on a piece of land with a prominent location but many constraints, which made the property difficult to build on. Other limiting factors included the budget and an emphasis on sustainable construction. Employees with no construction background were involved in every aspect of building. (This kind of thing is what makes a young architect’s experience at this office so fulfilling.)

EP: The firm’s projects seem to be getting bigger: the Tucson mixed use development, the Hotel Ray 60 room boutique hotel in Venice, California and the Belmar Tower.
BDS: Absolutely. The sizes of the projects we’ve taken on have more than doubled and tripled those of past work.

EP: Are these projects being awarded through competitions, for the most part?
BDS: The firm acquires work mostly through word of mouth. The Belmar Tower project was offered to us by the same developer for whom The Lab was designed. Obviously, we enjoy working with repeat clients who respect our work and our relationship. We haven’t really been all that interested in competitions to this point. We feel that the projects on the table right now afford us opportunities to experiment and to immediately challenge ideas with the realities of construction.

EP: How important is sustainability to your projects?
BDS: We are becoming more and more interested in sustainability. This stems from our ever-increasing awareness of the impact that buildings and construction have on our environment. We’ve found through projects like Hotel Ray, the Belmar Tower, and Skyline Residence that remaining conscious of environmental impact throughout the design process is a necessity, yet it doesn’t have to override spatial effects, material innovation or form.

In the midst of so much technological innovation, it’s easy to forget that the most rudimentary techniques of sustainability require no pricey or elaborate devices. The Skyline Residence was built on a budget, and part of meeting that budget required making the best possible use of a site’s offerings. This project doesn’t stand out as looking like a ‘green’ project. However, items such as large eaves, waste wood, decomposed granite and minimal grading subtly brought the design back toward carbon neutrality.

EP: You mentioned the Hotel Ray will be LEED gold-certified: which elements of the design are environmentally friendly?

BDS: Hotel Ray’s sustainable elements include: solar heating for the pool; employee bike racks; bio-fuel shuttle service; a grass/garden roofscape; rainwater retention; dual flush toilets; low flow fixtures; waterless urinals; formaldehyde-free wood products; recycled materials; HVAC displacement system; deep overhangs; preservation of existing structures – ¼ of the lot was preserved for open space; and use of products by local designers.