ARCHITECTURE : 3 Designs Later, an OK for Planet Hollywood

Three designs later--after nixing the bold colors and celebrity handprints on the wall--the Beverly Hills City Council finally OKd a more subdued exterior for the new Planet Hollywood scheduled to open later this summer on Wilshire Boulevard.

Gone is the celebrity-owned chain’s logo--a colorful globe with large shooting stars. Only the name remains--now in back-lit, brushed-bronze letters instead of fire-engine red. Gone are the pink and green striped awnings, supplanted by solid green ones. And the pink-speckled granite that was to have surrounded the doors and windows was replaced with a “less busy” marble named Tea Rose, personally chosen from several samples by the council members themselves.

Planet Hollywood’s lawyer, John Quinn, said that although his clients had made “a lot of compromises,” they were happy with the final look for the Hollywood-themed eatery. “In the long run, it’s a classic type of thing and it will look good in Beverly Hills,” he said.

Planet Hollywood’s architects had been ordered to tone down the planned exterior earlier this year after the Southwest Beverly Hills Homeowners Assn. and former Planning Commissioner Rose Norton appealed its approval by the city architectural commission.

They argued that the restaurant would look garish in the upscale community.

Mayor Allan L. Alexander voted against the latest design, objecting to the restaurant’s sign that will extend above the building’s first story.