The Team: AEG (developer and ownership), Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott (operators), Gensler (architecture), Barry Design Associates (design)

The Brief: Integrate two hotels into the first new skyscraper in downtown LA in 20 years, including 80,000 square feet of meeting space.

The Project: Conceived in 1999, the $2.5 billion L.A. Live project is five million square feet of entertainment, hospitality and office components anchored by the Staples Center. The 878-room JW Marriott Hotel and the 123-room Ritz-Carlton are part of the 35-acre campus.

The Focal Points: The 54-story tower has a curved glass skin colored in blue, silver and gray that becomes more transparent as it rises, creating a stunning exterior that also helps provides energy efficiency. The unique skyline image reflects the need for the rooms varying heights and depth. The Ritz-Carlton suites and residences at the top needed to be up to 12 feet deeper than the JW Marriott rooms below, creating the need for the unifying glass curtains draped from curved steel towers at the top of the tower.

The Finished Product: The hotels opened in early 2010 and have since received LEED Silver certification. The three-story lobby connects L.A. Live to downtown and offers aplenty of room for gathering, especially before and after events at the complex’s nearby entertainment venues like Club Nokia, the Regal Cinemas or the Staples Center. Guestrooms at the JW Marriott are 375 square feet up to suites with more than 1,500 square feet. The Ritz-Carlton is on floors 22-26 and rooms offer 450 square feet up to a suite with 2,920 square feet.

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