The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

Los Angeles, California

Award of Merit

OWNER: Paratus Group

LEAD DESIGN FIRM: Renzo Piano Building Workshop

LEAD CONTRACTOR: MATT Construction

CIVIL ENGINEER: KPFF Consulting Engineers

STRUCTURAL AND MEP ENGINEER, LIGHTING DESIGN: Buro Happold

EXECUTIVE ARCHITECT: Gensler

EXHIBITION DESIGN: wHY Architecture

THEATER DESIGN: ARUP

PROJECT MANAGER: Paratus Group


This movie-making museum consists of a major renovation to a 1930’s building plus a soaring spherical addition that will house a 1,000-seat theater. The two buildings required very different structural solutions. While the existing building’s retrofit was designed to limit its movement, the 150-ft-dia theater orb can move up to 30 in. each direction during an earthquake, via eight base-isolators set 15 ft above grade and exposed as a design element. As such, building components between the two structures required flexible connections to allow one building to move and the other to stand still. For the sphere, the team was able to eliminate the lengthy process of traditional formwork and cast-in-place concrete by using a sacrificial steel skeleton to which the outer precast cladding was bolted. Then, the thick acoustic and structural wall was sprayed on the inside face of the precast panels, saving up to four months in the schedule.