Southern Guild Gallery

Category Art&Culture

Location Los Angeles, CA

Size 8,000 SF

completion Adaptive Reuse & Retrofits; Seismic Retrofit

Project overview

Southern Guild’s first U.S. gallery finds its home in a historic 1920s building on Western Avenue in Los Angeles’s Melrose Hill neighborhood. Originally constructed during the city’s early 20th-century expansion, the 5,000-square-foot structure once served as a utilitarian commercial space. The adaptive reuse project, led by Evan Raabe Architecture Studio (ERĀS), transformed the building into a contemporary art gallery while preserving its historical character. The renovation included structural reinforcements and the introduction of new mechanical systems, all carefully integrated to maintain the building’s original architectural features.

Conclusion

The result is a gallery space that seamlessly blends the old with the new, providing a flexible and refined environment for Southern Guild’s exhibitions. By honoring the building’s historical roots while adapting it for contemporary use, the project exemplifies the potential of adaptive reuse in urban settings. Southern Guild’s Los Angeles gallery now stands as a testament to the enduring value of thoughtful design and cultural preservation.