BUZZWORTHY BEEHIVE PAVILION
23 Mar 2023
A hexagonal beehive sculpture has caused a lot of buzz at SoLa Impact’s Beehive Campus. The rounded pavilion is a statement piece to the open space and is a sculptural highlight on campus.
FROM THE ARCHITECTS: SoLa Impact’s mission to preserve, refresh, and create high-quality affordable housing has revitalised Black and Brown communities throughout Los Angeles. Since 2015, SoLa has acquired 1,500 units and is currently developing, constructing, and rehabbing another 1,300 new units in the greater Los Angeles area. SoLa Impact currently owns and manages 200+ buildings across its three real estate funds. 
The company’s primary initiatives—building and maintaining high-quality affordable housing developments—were naturally aligned with the Opportunity Zone legislation when it was created, which provided an avenue for SoLa to develop The Beehive campus. As the nation’s first Opportunity Zone business campus, The Beehive represents the spirit of that legislation. The campus was born from a desire to uplift minority-owned businesses and local entrepreneurs, not uproot them. 
The sculpture functions as the focal object at SoLa Impact’s Beehive campus, gathering visitors around it. While standing underneath, it frames the view toward the open space on campus. The sculpture delicately rests on the ground; the shell is dramatically thicker above. Apertures progressively increase in size towards the top, lightening the experience within the sculpture while creating shadow play on the ground. 
The design is the result of a delicate balance of forces within a physics simulation. The arch is created by outwards forces mimicking the voluminous Manilla shape balanced with catenary gravitational forces and planarization forces acting on the individual shapes. The interior shell is self-supporting, while the outer pieces buttress the form and provide rigidity. 
Tessellated hexagons form the sculpture, but some shapes have five sides and some seven. Some are askew while others are perfectly symmetrical. A total of 497 unique pieces form the sculpture weighing 3,785 pounds, and each piece is strong enough to hold the other’s weight. The tessellation symbolises the organisational strength derived from individual, unique elements. 
Via ArchDaily. Images Paul Vu
PROJECT PARTICULARS
Lead Architects | Kirill Volchinskiy, Necils Lopez
Structural Engineering | Nous Engineering
Landscape Design/Construction Management | Beatriz Salazar, Sergio Gonzalez
Fabrication | Marvin Mancia
Structural Engineers | Matthew Melnyk, Mit Gala
City | Los Angeles
Country | United States
