Church Edit’s LA Headquarters Rethinks the Editing Studio

Church Edit‘s new headquarters sits directly on the Los Angeles River in Frogtown, with access to the river bike path from the property. The roughly 3,000-square-foot space occupies a building that began as an industrial site in the 1960s. Breland-Harper converted it into a creative campus for the film editing facility and creative studio, retaining its raw CMU block walls, exposed beams, and simple structural grid.

Church Edit co-founder James Drew turned to Argyle Design, the studio he founded with his wife, Kat Bell, to design the interiors of the company’s new Los Angeles headquarters.

Breland-Harper’s main additions were expansive glazing and reworked circulation. The rest of the shell stayed largely as found. “Rather than fully transforming the building, the intervention preserves its industrial bones,” the Argyle team says. Working within that framework meant deciding what to preserve and where to intervene, keeping the industrial character while introducing warmth through the interiors.

Bell describes the traditional post-production studio as “often dark, enclosed, and highly technical,” while the brief called for a workspace that was open, light-filled, and residential in spirit. According to Drew, the primary challenge was adding openness, natural light, and softer materials without compromising the functionality an editing studio requires.

Gray block walls remain exposed throughout. They sit with stainless steel and chrome at the cooler end of the palette. Windows and doors are sycamore, the kitchen is walnut, and custom walnut desks furnish the editing suites. Against the block and metal, Argyle layered soft creams, warm beiges, and honeyed woods with cognac and black leather, wool rugs, and natural textiles. Color comes mainly through artwork and a few select furnishings.

The long, narrow main volume sets the layout. A custom elongated yellow wool rug anchors the central zone, and connected groupings of lounge furniture allow for gathering and working. Editing suites and support areas branch off this central space for private workspaces. Bell describes the plan as prioritizing long sightlines, with open views balanced by moments of enclosure so the space can shift between collaborative and private zones.

Lighting inside the shell is layered. Diffused ceiling fixtures work alongside sculptural paper and fabric ceiling lights, Noguchi pendants, and vintage Italian and Space Age table and floor lamps, including models by Luigi Massoni and Guzzini. Daylight enters through the large windows, which bring the greenery outside into view. Custom vertical blinds installed across the space filter that light into a shifting pattern of shadow and movement.

The result maintains the building’s industrial character without allowing it to dictate the experience inside. Argyle’s softer materials, furnishings, and lighting give Church Edit the warmth of a residential space while preserving the functionality of a working post-production studio.