Swiss/American design firm Montalba Architects has announced the start of work on a renovation of a landmark office building in Beverly Hills.

The property, located at 9720 Wilshire Boulevard, is an approximately 61,000-square-foot building completed in 1962 to house Perpetual Savings and Loan. The restoration, which is focused on the eight-story structure's common areas and exterior, will add natural light into a basement level, while also restoring original architectural features.

View of 9720 Wilshire Boulevard looking west from across McCarty DriveShimahara

Plans call for replacing a fountain located at the center of the property's street-facing plaza with a new circular light well, which will open onto the basement space. Plans also call for remodeling the building's interior finishes that are more compatible with the original design.

Completion is expected in Fall 2022.

“The building is essentially a Los Angeles landmark, so it was important that we respect and take into consideration its history when making any refinements,” says Montalba's founding principal David Montalba in a prepared statement. “Keeping this in mind, our intent was to elevate what made the building iconic through specific design additions, like turning the original plaza fountain into a sunken garden to bring light and life into the previously unused basement.”

Renovated basement at 9720 Wilshire BoulevardShimahara

The Perpetual Savings and Loan building, a well known landmark to commuters on Wilshire Boulevard, was designed by Kennedy Center architect Edward Durell Stone. The Los Angeles Conservancy describes the building as "a simple glass-skinned high-rise completely sheathed in a pierced concrete screen of repeating parabolic arches," which some have attributed to Italian influences.