Kidney Center of Los Angeles | Los Angeles Conservancy
Photo by Adrian Scott Fine/L.A. Conservancy

Kidney Center of Los Angeles

Completed in 1955, the building at 1125 W. 6th Street is an excellent and rare example of Late Moderne commercial architecture in Los Angeles' Westlake neighborhood. Today, it operates as a medical facility. 

The sleek five-story building features metal horizontal ribbon windows on its primary and rear elevations. The windows on the rear (north) façade wrap around the corners of the west and east elevations. The asymmetrical, recessed entrance features a low-rise canopy, which is supported by narrow concrete piers. A one-story addition was later constructed near the primary entrance. 

Noted architectural firm Kistner, Wright & Wright designed the building, as well as its neighbor at 1111 W. 6th Street. Though based in San Diego, the firm's Los Angeles office was housed in the building during the 1960s.

Kistner, Wright & Wright was responsible for a number of mid-century modern projects in Southern California, including Cerritos College (1961), the Peck-Norman Building (1965), and the Norwalk Civic Center (1965). Theodore C. Kistner, a partner in the firm along with H.F. Wright and W.T. Wright, was also the official architect for the San Diego School Board and designed two Carnegie libraries in Chula Vista and East San Diego. 

Gerry Building
Photo courtesy Architectural Resources Group

Gerry Building

Continuously housing garment manufacturers and fashion showrooms since it was built and an early example of post-WWII Modernism, the Gerry Building stands as a functional, vibrant industrial space.