PASADENA - A Honda Advance Design studio housing a handful of the auto giant's top designers will be a highly visible feature of Old Pasadena's newest live/work/shop development. But don't expect to see anything the "very small, talented team" is working on behind those walls of glass at 35 Raymond, said David Marek, Honda's chief designer, who will head the team.

City codes specify that street-level businesses in Old Pasadena have windows with something for passers-by to look at - not so easy when you're working on hush-hush plans for cars of the future. "We won't be showing automotive things because it's top secret," Marek said. And the sensitive designs won't be visible from the street either. "We're supposed to have a `confidentiality barrier' - but we call it a cocoon." So, out of direct view, the team will work on cars "two or three generations ahead of what production cars are now," Marek said. There will be something for passers-by to enjoy, though, said Marek, an alumnus of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. "What we do have is a rotating art display in those windows ... even some car stuff later, but basically nothing that's a Honda project," Marek said, adding that student works from Art Center are likely to be featured; some Honda fantasy concept cars or "design exercises" may be on show later, Honda spokeswoman Jessica Fini said.

The project at 35 North Raymond Ave., on the corner of Union Street, restored the facade of the long-empty 1905 building, formerly an antiques gallery. The interior was gutted to provide ground-floor space for Honda, Famima - a Japanese-style convenience store that opened three months ago - and Dashing Diva beauty salon. Atop the five-story building are 18 two-story lofts - one remaining unsold at $807,000 - and 15 two-story townhouses, nine in escrow, with prices up to $1.85 million. Having an unexpected presence like the Honda studio in Old Pasadena sounds like a good fit to Steve Mulheim, vice president of operations for the Old Pasadena Management District.

"It is a little unusual, but it's a nice mix in the eclectic nature that's been Old Pasadena for a very long time," Mulheim said. "At the moment they're still constructing the interior, but the fa ade all across the west and north is windows, so to some degree their operation will be somewhat transparent to passers-by and that will be very exciting. "There are several other `think-tank' business in the district, but this is a little more in front." Fini said the local presence of Art Center was a "big reason" for bringing the design studio to Pasadena. Art Center, with its hilltop campus at 1700 Lida St. in Linda Vista, opened a downtown campus at 950 S. Raymond Ave. two years ago.

"We have great contact with Honda, access to their professionals who come to teach - including Steve - and I see that continuing," said Stewart Reed, chairman of the transportation department at Art Center.
"Honda has about 20 advance research studios, and I like to think Art Center is one of the reasons they came" to Pasadena, Reed said. "The Southern California car culture makes for a vibrant marketplace, and we have lots of companies here that like to do market research here in Old Pasadena - it's ground zero for trends and advances." Marek said the atmosphere of Old Pasadena drew his team to the city. "One of the things we wanted was to be in an area that was very vibrant all the time," he said. "If there were no Old Pasadena, we probably would not be in Pasadena."

janette.williams@sgvn.com