Crenshaw Offices

Angel City Lumber provided sculptural elements, benches, and desks made from locally sourced, fire-damaged Coast Live Oak for a 60,000-square-foot tech firm in Crenshaw. The black-dyed wood reinforced the sleek, minimalist design while connecting to California’s wildfire history.

In 2019, a rapidly growing tech firm moved into its new corporate headquarters: a fully renovated, 60,000-square-foot warehouse in the Crenshaw neighborhood of Los Angeles.

SALT Landscape Architects and RADAR masterminded a stark, black-and-white motif for the cavernous warehouse. We were charged with providing sculptural elements, benches and desks to allow for communal work while at the same time strengthening the design aesthetics. We worked closely with the designers, testing out a variety of materials and treatments until arriving at a singular solution - locally sourced Coast Live Oak dyed black.

Coast Live Oak grows up and down the Californian coast and west of Sierra Nevada. This evergreen tree belongs to the red oak family and has a storied history of helping to feed indigenous cultures by providing acorns to make flour. Early settlers also used uniquely shaped branches for boat building. Many of the oak woodlands were cleared to erect sprawling cities such as Los Angeles and San Diego, but their namesakes are commemorated in the neighborhoods of Sherman Oaks, Thousand Oaks, Encino, and Encinitas.

Due to recent climate change patterns, California has seen some of the most intense wildfires in the history of the state. The trees sourced for the sculptural elements in this project were victims of the 2018 wildfires in Newhall, Santa Clarita Valley. Leaning into the wildfire theme, the remaining faces of the logs were dyed black, matching the design aesthetic but also demonstrating the close relationship we have living with fire in California. The massive burn scar along the side of the log reminds us that we are part of the evolving ecology in Southern California.

Coast Live Oak is a very dense wood with a good resistance to decay. The grain pattern can be irregular, as some trees grow straight while others curl and twist due to the nature of their growing conditions. Rays grow perpendicular to the grain most often, which makes for unique and beautiful patterns in the wood. We find oak to be the perfect material for furniture, cabinetry, boatbuilding, and flooring.