Paseo Colorado

Pasadena, CA

As American Cities look for ways to revitalize their downtowns, one of the most challenging problems has been how to deal with obsolete shopping malls built in the 1960s and ‘70s. Lacking scale and inward-facing by nature, these malls have had an especially damaging effect on their surroundings. EE&K’s design for Paseo Colorado transformed the failed Pasadena Plaza in downtown Pasadena into a vibrant, mixed-use precinct, in the process creating what the Los Angeles Times has called a “model for urban redevelopment across the country.”

EE&K’s plan turned the mall inside out, knitting the new development back into the downtown street grid and reestablishing the central axis connecting the Civic Auditorium and the historic Public Library. By introducing a mix of offices, hospitality, retail and residential above the existing retail, EE&K’s design reused much of the mall’s existing structure as well as its underground parking garage. The architecture of Paseo Colorado belongs unmistakably to Pasadena, with varied facades that reinforce the street grid and echo Pasadena’s distinctive palette of pale yellows and pinks, and a lively variety of trellises and canopies that create a rich play of shadow in the Southern California sun.

When it opened, Paseo Colorado was described as “a case study on whether Southern Californians will abandon their gardens and gas grills to live within walking distance of the grocery store, gym and train station.” EE&K took full advantage of Pasadena’s temperate climate by designin the new development around a series of outdoor places that have since become a highly successful destination for people-watching, strolling and discovery.