Lights, Camera, Preservation: Omgivning’s Projects on the Big Screen

At Omgivning, we’ve always believed that buildings tell stories. Sometimes those stories are about a city’s past, sometimes they’re about its rebirth, and sometimes, they’re told on the silver screen. Many of the iconic Los Angeles buildings we’ve helped restore and reimagine have also been immortalized in film, television, and music videos.

The film industry has a unique way of preserving place. Long after a building changes ownership or use, its image lives on in cinema history, capturing not only its architecture but also the cultural spirit of Los Angeles at that moment in time. As designers passionate about adaptive reuse, it’s exciting to know that our work continues a tradition of keeping these spaces alive for future generations, both in real life and on camera.

The projects below are just a few of the many places we’ve had the privilege to bring back to life, buildings whose stories continue to resonate on screen and throughout the city. From historic landmarks to neighborhood apartment buildings, these spaces remind us that Los Angeles architecture is inseparable from the art of storytelling.

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The MacArthur

The MacArthur by Omgivning

Designed in the Beaux Arts style with soaring vaulted ceilings, marble staircases, and elaborate ballrooms, the building was originally intended as a lavish banquet hall for the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Its sheer scale and theatrical interiors made it a natural star for Hollywood.

On screen, The MacArthur has doubled as nightclubs, ballrooms, and even courtrooms, its grandeur lending instant drama to every frame. Its presence in classics like New York, New York and cult favorites like Reservoir Dogs illustrates its adaptability, while music videos from Steve Perry’s “Oh Sherrie” to Kendrick Lamar’s “HUMBLE” have cemented it as a visual icon across generations. Today, after Omgivning’s careful work, the building will continue to host events and productions, bridging its cinematic past with a new life in Los Angeles culture.

Film Appearances:

New York, New York (1977), Stripes (1981), Less Than Zero (1987), The Naked Gun (1990), Chaplin (1992), Reservoir Dogs (1992), The Mask (1994), Not Another Teen Movie (2001), Prom Night (2008), The Prestige (2006), Drive (2011), Gangster Squad (2013), Mank (2020)

Music Videos:

Steve Perry – Oh Sherrie (1984), Pat Benatar – Lipstick Lies (1984), Peter Cetera & Amy Grant – The Next Time I Fall (1986), Anastacia – I’m Outta Love (2000), Maroon 5 – Sugar (2015), Kendrick Lamar – HUMBLE. (2017)

Kendrick Lamar – HUMBLE. (2017) at The MacArthur

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Del Mor Apartments

Not all cinematic landmarks are theatres. The Del Mor Apartments in Echo Park demonstrate how modest, everyday buildings can carry enormous cultural weight. The site became famous through its appearance in 

Mi Vida Loca (1993), a landmark film that told the stories of young Latina gang members in Echo Park during the early 1990s.

By grounding the narrative in real neighborhoods, the film offered authenticity and visibility to experiences rarely depicted on screen at the time. The Del Mor became more than a backdrop, it symbolized community, identity, and resilience, forever tying the building to Los Angeles’s cultural and cinematic history.

Film Appearance:

Mi Vida Loca (1993)

Scene from Mi Vida Loca

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City Center Motel

City Center Motel by Omgivning 2025

Before its transformation, the City Center Motel stood as a classic example of mid century roadside architecture, a low slung motor inn with bold neon signage and streamlined façades that once welcomed travelers along Los Angeles’s busy boulevards. Though utilitarian in design, it carried the charm and grit of a bygone era when motels were fixtures of the city’s car centric culture.

Its role in Griselda captured that character on film, preserving the atmosphere of the property just before its reinvention. The motel’s appearance serves as a reminder that even the most ordinary structures hold cinematic and cultural value, acting as time capsules of Los Angeles’s shifting streetscapes.

Film Appearance:

Griselda on Netflix

Scene from Griselda at City Center Motel in Long Beach before Omgivning's Renovation.

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Second Home Hollywood

Second Home Hollywood ( Now Known As The Preserve LA ) by Omgivning

Before becoming one of Los Angeles’s most distinctive co-working and event campuses, the site was home to the historic Hollywood Women’s Club. Established in the early 20th century, the club provided a place for women to gather, exchange ideas, and shape civic and cultural life in Hollywood. That legacy of community and empowerment remains deeply tied to the property.

Omgivning’s adaptive reuse gave the site new life as Second Home Hollywood (now known as The Preserve LA), where a constellation of colorful pods now fill the grounds with spaces for collaboration, creativity, and events. The campus blends innovation with preservation, honoring its past while reimagining it for a new generation.

Its role in Swiped carries a particularly poetic connection: the campus stands in as Bumble’s headquarters, a company founded by women, for women. It’s a fitting nod to the Women’s Club origins of the site, where architecture once again provides the stage for stories of female leadership, empowerment, and cultural influence.

Film Appearance:

Swiped

Scene from Swiped on Netflix

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Los Angeles has always been a city of storytellers, and Omgivning plays a quiet role in shaping the places where those stories unfold. We proudly support the StayInLA Coalition in its mission to keep production rooted here. The film industry fuels so much more than what’s seen on screen, it sustains local businesses, supports schools, creates jobs, and strengthens the cultural fabric of our city. When production thrives in Los Angeles, our entire community flourishes.