Set within an industrial Los Angeles neighborhood, KX Lab shrouds its unconventional tech-filled design within a typical warehouse exterior and sets out to change the way manufacturing is carried out in Los Angeles. The design focus supports a social mission where technology and people interconnect. <br><br> The facility seamlessly merges a knit manufacturing space with workspace, research and development, retail environment, and exhibition space. KX Lab sees its new home as a prototype for “radically more humane” manufacturing environments focused on sustainability and transparency. As a local manufacturer, KX Lab aims to bring consumers, products, and the people that make them closer together.

KX Lab

Client / KX Lab

Area / Chinatown, Los Angeles

Status / Complete

Type / Office, Retail

Set within an industrial Los Angeles neighborhood, KX Lab shrouds its unconventional tech-filled design within a typical warehouse exterior and sets out to change the way manufacturing is carried out in Los Angeles. The design focus supports a social mission where technology and people interconnect.

The facility seamlessly merges a knit manufacturing space with workspace, research and development, retail environment, and exhibition space. KX Lab sees its new home as a prototype for “radically more humane” manufacturing environments focused on sustainability and transparency. As a local manufacturer, KX Lab aims to bring consumers, products, and the people that make them closer together.

KX Lab

Set within an industrial Los Angeles neighborhood, KX Lab shrouds its unconventional tech-filled design within a typical warehouse exterior and sets out to change the way manufacturing is carried out in Los Angeles. The design focus supports a social mission where technology and people interconnect. <br><br> The facility seamlessly merges a knit manufacturing space with workspace, research and development, retail environment, and exhibition space. KX Lab sees its new home as a prototype for “radically more humane” manufacturing environments focused on sustainability and transparency. As a local manufacturer, KX Lab aims to bring consumers, products, and the people that make them closer together.

Owner / KX Lab

Location / Chinatown, Los Angeles

Status / Complete

Type / Office, Retail

Set within an industrial Los Angeles neighborhood, KX Lab shrouds its unconventional tech-filled design within a typical warehouse exterior and sets out to change the way manufacturing is carried out in Los Angeles. The design focus supports a social mission where technology and people interconnect.

The facility seamlessly merges a knit manufacturing space with workspace, research and development, retail environment, and exhibition space. KX Lab sees its new home as a prototype for “radically more humane” manufacturing environments focused on sustainability and transparency. As a local manufacturer, KX Lab aims to bring consumers, products, and the people that make them closer together.

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Design

Human-centered design was the goal throughout the space. Not only is the space filled with light and fresh air, it buzzes with automation, high-tech knitting machines, and zooming robots. The company’s vision to provide a healthy work environment is evident throughout the facility and in particular in the expansive garden completely visible and accessible from the manufacturing floor.

Videography by Benjamin Mears
Music by Ben Messelbeck

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Collaboration

The garden, formerly a concrete parking lot, now bursts with life and offers connections to nature whether viewed from the factory, seated by the pond or amongst the drought-tolerant trees. The Omgivning team designed the KX Lab space based on a concept from Studio 173.

Omgivning worked closely with TERREMOTO Landscape Architects to help achieve the goals of creating a wild garden in an area in need of green space. This human environment of steel, concrete, and machinery shares a space with a natural, native plant palette, creating a place to unwind and recharge.

Photography by Stephen Schauer and Benjamin Mears

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