Wilshire Boulevard Temple plans new addition from Rem Koolhaas firm

The historic Wilshire Boulevard Temple has released plans for its new addition next door, nearly three years after first announcing the idea.

Designed by Rem Koolhaas’ Office for Metropolitan Architecture, the new 55,000-square-foot structure will offer a banquet hall, commercial kitchen, meeting rooms and a rooftop garden, the Los Angeles Times reported. Renderings portray a trapezoidal building, complete with an arched entrance and skylight that will sit east of the Reform congregation’s temple, and lean toward Wilshire Boulevard.

It is meant to complement the 1929 Byzantine Revival style temple, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

The synagogue has already raised $55 million of the $75 million needed for construction, it said in a statement. Once completed, the building will be named Audrey Irmas Pavilion in honor of Irmas, who donated $30 million to the project.

Construction is expected to break ground in the fall and completed in 2020.

The temple is within the Erika J. Glazer Family Campus, which occupies a city block at the intersection of Wilshire and Hobart boulevards. It includes a preschool, elementary school and religious school, along with a social service center, according to its website. [LAT] — Natalie Hoberman