In 2021, our studio developed an architectural vision for a complex of villas in Beverly Hills on the land previously owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
It was not a classic architectural project, where a sketch, architectural and constructive solution, interior design stages are developed and architectural supervision is later carried out during construction.
The villas in Beverly Hills were created more as a marketing tool for the sale of a unique property, designed to convince the future owner of the limitless possibilities of its use.
Pearl of Beverly Hills
Among other inheritance, Paul Allen has left the 48-hectares Enchanted Hill, located on a detached 2-kilometer-long hill, to the trust fund. Enchanted Hill essentially consists of five ready-to-build plots connected by a tarmac - an ideal starting point for high-end development in a land filled with history and Hollywood prestige. Enchanted Hill used to be a famous mansion built by architect Wallace Neff, where journalist and writer Frances Marion and silent film star Fred Thompson lived.
In March 2020, Enchanted Hill has almost been purchased by the then-richest man on the planet, Jeff Bezos, for $90 million. But the deal was eventually cancelled it in the wake of the growing uncertainty of the global epidemic.
After that, in the summer of 2020, the Enchanted Hill agency Hilton & Hyland approached our team with an unusual offer:
This is a very high-status property, land with a rich history in the most expensive area of Los Angeles. We need to show potential owners more than just pictures of empty building lots. We have to inspire the buyer, demonstrate the incredible potential of this place.
In our profession, such an offer is difficult to refuse, especially after our team was guaranteed that, if successful, the project would go public with Forbes Global Properties.
Project concept
We create our projects paying a lot of attention to the surrounding landscape. Our goal is to create a synergy between architecture and the surrounding nature, and not to sterilize it for human needs - this is the main line of our philosophy of ecological minimalism. In the concept of the Enchanted Hill, the project bears numerous elements that in themselves become a continuation of the natural environment.
The architectural volumes are based on the simplest form of a cylinder - a circular view, which it provides, reflects the principles of openness and unity of the project with the surrounding nature. With panoramic glazing, we remove the barriers between indoor and outdoor space, allowing stunning views of Beverly Hills, Century City and Los Angeles itself to penetrate into the interior and transform the mood inside buildings during the day.
Result
Enchanted Hill is a rare object in terms of its scale, purpose and cultural context, which definitely introduced certain design challenges. Each of the five buildings in the Enchanted Hill chain had to not only fit into the landscape itself, but also organically interact with other buildings along the road, without getting lost among them. Paul Allen had previously created a certain vision for the project as a whole, in accordance with which a highway was laid and building plots were placed. Each section was supposed to have its own function - a building for receiving guests over there, a sports and spa center over here, an entertainment complex and a high-class equestrian sports complex a little further along the road.
In general, fell free to do what you seem best: we don’t need too much analytics and careful planning, but rather to take the buyers’ breath away with the result.
You can see the result on the visualizations - the project went through four stages of sketching, after which the final album became the main visual tool for the new advertising campaign for Enchanted Hill.
It turned out to be the coveted win-win situation between an architect and a customer: Hilton & Hyland received a new marketing tool and still managed to sell the property, and we received about a dozen publications in American and international media, including Forbes.
