NBCUniversal Campus Project

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At NBCUniversal’s historic working studio lot, a transformation of the landscape sparks the transformation of where and how creative work happens across a newly connected campus. A collaboration between LEVER and Field Operations, the Campus Project draws inspiration from the beauty of the Southern California landscape to revive a distinct sense of culture and place at NBCUniversal. After a century of growth and infill across the lot, this expansion restores gardens and creates new green spaces, bringing people closer to the outdoors and to one another.

Outdoor amenities are central to the expansion: the siting of a new office building and employee commons work together with the existing structures to frame a central green at the heart of the campus. Lawns shaded by mature trees make the green a flexible space for events from movie screenings and farmer’s markets to all-hands town hall meetings and galas.

A new “green spine” runs the full length of the lot, connecting the campus with a planted paseo that brings pedestrians from the arrival commons all the way to the plaza. The paseo and plaza provide digitally connected garden workspaces, outdoor dining, and a variety of flexible gathering areas—fully blending indoor and outdoor spaces. The campus expansion design seeks to foster creativity and innovation by encouraging people to leave their workspaces and bring creativity into inspiring public spaces.

The design transforms the campus with new buildings and landscapes.

The Commons is a distinctive, circular building with a lenticular facade inspired by early zoetropes and the origins of moving pictures. The building provides NBCUniversal employees and visitors with everything they need to recharge, rejuvenate, and gather indoors and outdoors. At the ground floor, a commissary opens to a series of shaded, outdoor courtyards with a variety of seating, and links the amenity building to the plaza and the paseo. This 84,000 sf building includes a large special events theater with state-of-the-art projection and audio, two large screening rooms, and a 1,000 person events center on the top floor with a 360 degree view of the campus.

The Commons' design draws inspiration from the birth of the moving image in the early circular zoetropes.

Along a dramatic slope, the 350,000 sf office building, One Universal, anchors the furthest end of the paseo. A double-height lobby connects to the central green, providing additional indoor-outdoor work and gathering spaces and helping to create a seamless transition from office to plaza. Like the outdoor spaces, the office building is designed to support collaboration and interaction in a variety of settings. A “flex floor” common space is home to a cafe, shared meeting and conference rooms, and two state-of-the-art screening rooms. An exterior terrace runs the length of the flex floor, with a variety of seating areas including outdoor conference rooms and views across campus, the Valley, and the San Gabriel Mountains.