A New $500m ‘Star’ Office Tower May Rise in the Heart of Sunset Boulevard

The Sunset Boulevard might get another star of its own. 

MAD Architects, a Beijing-based firm led by Chinese architect Ma Yansong, has announced its latest project proposal that might be adorning the California skyline, dubbed "The Star," in a few years, and it's designed to be a biomorphic office skyscraper that is like no other in the center of Hollywood, per Design Boom.

The Star's proposed location is home to a series of office buildings and a parking lot flanked by a Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles and a Hollywood Palms Inn & Suites motel, and it's aimed to be a stunning sight with its unusual shape that incorporates tree-filled gardens and terraces throughout its 22 floors. The Yale-educated architect and professor Ma Yansong of MAD has described it as a "very sculptural" structure that will remind those who gaze upon it of a "sunset."

The building is envisioned as a monument that will enhance the pedestrian experience while simultaneously feeding the crowd's creativity and inspiration, with influences from the curvilinear shapes of the Griffith Observatory, Capitol Records Building, Hollywood Bowl, and Cinerama Dome. However, the 500,000 sq ft (46,451 sq m) high-rise looks like no other and is designed to shine upon the city with its unique looks.

Made up of three glassy pipes wrapped in a huge glass dome, it's distinguished by an egg-shaped band superstructure. Aside from being pleasing to the eye, the thin band that runs over the sculptural structure provides a practical purpose by serving as a funicular track for passengers. It enables them to access the enclosed rooftop restaurant, event space, and 360-degree observation deck with ease. The 'sky railway', which is basically funicular tracks, will run along the building's perimeter, transporting customers throughout the tower, from a rooftop restaurant to a venue.

The Star is the result of a post-COVID world, as evidenced by the work done on it to improve the comfort, fitness, physical, emotional, and mental well-being of employees. The designers focused on light and air requirements, as well as WELL —a performance-based system for measuring and certifying health and well-being in buildings around the world — and LEED certification —a framework for healthy, highly efficient, and cost-effective green buildings. Furthermore, the design features plenty of outdoor space as well as planted terraces for employees to enjoy.

If the project sees implementation, another sun will shine in Hollywood thanks to The Star's textured glass exterior.