Mira – Trade Center

LA-based John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects (JFAK) recently completed schematic drawings for one of the largest, most unusual buildings ever to pop up along a Southern California Freeway. Called MIRA, a reference to a star system in which two luminaries rotate around each other (i.e., the US and China), the two million-squarefoot building—by far the firm’s largest commission to date—will be a showroom facility for higher-end Chinese furniture, automobile, textile, technology, and fashion companies to display their products for commercial buyers in the United States. Up until now, much of this process has involved U.S. retailers flying to China to visit dispersed suppliers. The brainchild of Taiwanese developer Jason Chung, MIRA sits strategically alongside the CA-55 freeway near the junction of the 405 and 5 freeways in Santa Ana. The design includes three levels of parking, four levels of showrooms, 50,000 square feet of exhibition space, an auditorium, café, restaurants, lounges, and a business center. Chung is still securing funding, but Kimm said construction should begin in early 2010.

To take advantage of the building’s freeway location, JFAK clad the 1,900-foot-long, 110-foottall reinforced concrete structure in perforated metal panels fitted with LED signage advertising various Chinese brands. The signage uses two types of LEDs: a “mediamesh media-facade” system in which LED light strips integrate into the exterior mesh fabric of the building, and a “lighthouse LED panel system” that works on the more clearly defined paneled areas of the facade. The designers carried the LED signage through to the inside of the building,as well.A10,000-panel rooftop photovoltaic system, producing more than 1.5 million watts of electricity each day, will provide most of the electricity needed to power the LEDs. Like many new Chinese buildings, MIRA’s form is symbolic of nature. Shaped like a koi fish, a respected animal in Chinese tradition that also happens to have a very shiny skin, the building’s bright, twisting profile will have a pointed, glazed “head,” its entrance, supported on slender steel columns, and a large steel “tail” that twists upward to form the roof. The architects clad the base of the building, which houses parking, in a stainless steel mesh “green screen” that will be planted with vines. Visitors will enter the cavernous, naturally ventilated and lit exhibition hall, which is meant to showcase larger items and encourage informal interaction, at the northeastern edge of the site. From there, they can use the building’s glass and steel circulation “funnel” to travel from the exterior podium all the way to the rooftop via a series of escalators.

JFAK organized the showrooms as a simple system of back-to-back modules faced entirely in glass. The public walkways that surround them are punctured with freestanding pods that house services like conference rooms, offices, miscellaneous services, and rest areas. Each office block has access to its own planted courtyard, and the building’s top level includes a series of gardens, viewing platforms, offices, and restaurants. In addition to the solar panels, the sculptural· roof is planted with native vegetation to absorb rainwater and filter carbon dioxide. The green roof slopes into a green wall that drops down into the building, forming the focal point of an indoor garden space. Wind turbines on the roofs of the restaurant volumes will help further power the building. “Finally, a truly 21st century proposition,” said Kimm of the project. “A global clientele, a huge, unwieldy, complex program, and a surreal and placeless site. We’re really excited.” SL