| Calabasas Civic Center When the city of Calabasas wanted to construct a formal and inviting municipal center and library, it chose Robert A.M. Stern as its design architect and Harley Ellis Devereaux as executive architects. Our task as landscape architect was to develop the design for the outdoor public spaces that included a large open plaza, rose gardens and seating areas around and between the new Library and the new City Hall. The resulting Calabasas Civic Center is nestled within a regionally inspired landscape, framed by the grandeur of the Santa Monica Mountains in the background. The goal was to create a community hub where people can read books, use computers, conduct city business, and relax outdoors in a comfortable environment. Facing one another, the library and city hall form a civic plaza and are linked by a gently curving pergola that is planted with espaliered roses. The primary intent for the project was to make the outdoor reading and eating areas and the civic plaza inviting by planting a grove of olive trees that recall the area’s agricultural past, in combination with large ash and cypress trees. Sustainability was an important component of our design and the Civic Center received a LEED Gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. |
1430 Olympic Boulevard, Santa Monica, California 90404 t: 310.828.6373 f: 310.828.8054
Comments on this entry are closed.