Roberts Projects turns historic car dealership into characterful LA art space
Roberts Projects by Johnston Marklee sees the gallery launch its new home in Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles

Roberts Projects has just launched its new home in Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles. The gallery, which is now situated within a generous, expansive space that has been restored by Johnston Marklee, also celebrates its 23rd anniversary in 2023. The structure that hosts the business is a historic 1948 building – a 10,000 sq ft former automobile showroom – and it has now been given a facelift, tweaked to fit its new purpose as a fresh hub for the Los Angeles art community.
Roberts Projects by Johnston Marklee
Johnston Marklee, which is a deft hand at creating purposeful, elegant California spaces as well as homes for culture, was also behind Roberts Projects’ previous location in Culver City. Now, the art gallery's new headquarters cut a graceful figure that balances white, clean, minimalist architecture with a touch of the structure's industrial past and historic features. Buro Happold crafted the lighting design plan.
The interior is elevated by a 30 ft-high vaulted feature ceiling. It's carefully illuminated and accompanied by another three gallery rooms. The characterful, yet subtle identity of the space works in harmony with a variety of experiences, allowing art to be immersive, and at one with its context. It also celebrates the site's history, as this was the original location for the Max Barish Chrysler-Plymouth dealership, ‘Auto Dealer to the Stars’, from where Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Cary Grant, Bob Hope and Michael Landon bought cars.
‘We are thrilled to be collaborating with Roberts Projects on their future gallery in Los Angeles, our second project together, within a quintessential bow truss commercial building from the 1940s on La Brea Avenue. For their new location, we are designing a collection of galleries that will support the diverse content and scale of artists’ work including site-specific installations that have come to define the gallery. The spaces will range in scale from a large volumetric day-lit hall to intimate project rooms. The elemental façade and building mass will integrate the new gallery into the cultural landscape of the arts and architecture across the city,' said Sharon Johnston, FAIA, and co-founder and partner at Johnston Marklee.
Roberts Project's new home was unveiled alongside a major Kehinde Wiley exhibition (the artist is also currently showing at the De Young Museum in San Francisco) and the publication of books by Amoako Boafo and Betye Saar.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture Editor at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018) and Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020).
-
For London Gallery Weekend 2023, the mood is hardcore
With London Gallery Weekend 2023 almost upon us (2 – 4 June), here’s our list of must-see art exhibitions
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published
-
Birkenstock celebrates its most memorable styles with colourful capsule (and matching socks)
Birkenstock marks the 40th, 50th and 60th anniversaries of the Gizeh, Arizona and Madrid sandals, respectively, with limited-edition versions
By Jack Moss • Published
-
Zara Home and Vincent Van Duysen’s second collection is a hymn to conviviality
Zara Home+ by Vincent Van Duysen Collection 02 is the second chapter of the sophisticated collaboration and is focused on dining, featuring furniture, tableware and accessories
By Rosa Bertoli • Published
-
This Shelter Island house is designed as a ‘modern cabin’
Shelter Island house by Koning Eizenberg is designed with a ‘modern cabin’ approach and aesthetic, keeping the owners close to nature
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Rafael de Cárdenas Scholarship at RISD supports access and equity in education
The new Rafael de Cárdenas Scholarship at RISD offers support for students at the school’s Architecture or Apparel departments; we catch up with the architect to find out more
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Texan family house foregrounds sports cars, secret spaces and fantastic finishes
Smitharc has shaped a formidable Texan family house in suburban Dallas, using courtyards and setbacks to create a series of intimate spaces within a substantial plot
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
Compact Mount Washington house is designed for maximum impact
A Mount Washington house by Anonymous in Los Angeles makes the most of its views, steep site and small size
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Council_St is a creative community hub crafted from a Historic Filipinotown garage in LA
A garage in Historic Filipinotown is transformed into Council_St, an artist’s studio and exhibition space, by LA-based architecture firm Formation Association
By Nana Ama Owusu-Ansah • Published
-
Studio Gang’s Richard Gilder Center brings organic tactility to New York City
The Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation by Studio Gang marks a new era for New York City’s iconic American Museum of Natural History
By Pei-Ru Keh • Published
-
Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts launches its undulating Studio Gang design
Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts by Studio Gang opens in Little Rock, USA, blending new construction and renovation
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
‘Living among the trees’ finds form in a Miami house design
The experience of ‘living among the trees’ takes centre stage in a Miami house by Strang Design
By Nana Ama Owusu-Ansah • Published