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Entertainment:

TMZ

ARC Engineering’s relationship with the Warner Brothers-owned celebrity news organization TMZ dates back to 2006 when ARC worked with TMZ on their first start-up location on Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood. By 2011 TMZ had grown and was seeking a larger, more permanent space. Again ARC helped the team in their search to find the right building and TMZ settled on The Reserve, a former post office distribution center in Playa Vista, where they were the initial tenants of the 300,000 sq. ft. fully repurposed building.

TMZ leased 36,000 sq. ft., and ARC was designing the tenant MEP while the landlord was still finishing core and shell design. The program needs were varied and technically robust, including special acoustics for the newsroom area, 24/7 AC and technical power and UPS for the rest of the production spaces. These needs had to be balanced with the structural limitations of the roof and future surrounding tenants. ARC also helped with lease negotiations to ensure that TMZ’s requirements, especially in terms of system capacities, are provided as part of the core and shell systems.

ARC worked with Rapt Studio, Warner Bros, Cresa Partners and Environmental Contracting Corporation on the project, which was completed in spring of 2013, and TMZ is thrilled with the results. Says ARC principal Hisham Barakat, “We’re soup to nuts. That’s the beauty of our company, we can do so much more than just the drawings.”