WEST HOLLYWOOD CIVIC CENTER

West Hollywood, CA: 1989

A commission won by means of an International Design Competition, the West Hollywood Civic Center project is sited in 7.75-acre West Hollywood Park. The Program included a City Hall (70,000 sf), Council Chamber (6,000 sf), Civic Auditorium (20,000 sf), Library (15,000 sf) and Fire Station (10,000 sf). A 375-car above and below grade parking facility was also included. The new park accommodates 5.5 acres of active and passive open space containing a variety of recreational facilities.

The solution organizes the Civic Center program around a network of open spaces, diverse in character. These are defined by two means: the manipulation of the ground plane, and the precise positioning of buildings upon it. Together, these two operations address the polarities of scale found in the surrounding built context. While the disposition of the buildings themselves addresses the smaller scale and density of the neighborhood context, the terracing of the site follows the natural grade of the site from its north end down to its south. This enables the project to approach a scale commensurate with that of the gargantuan Pacific Design Center across the street. The site is organized into four parterres. The uppermost level, at the north end of the site, serves as the Theatre Entry Court, a ceremonial automotive drop-off and a transitional space for pedestrians coming from Santa Monica Boulevard. The Library, which forms the south face of the Theatre Entry Court, also defines the northern end of the main Civic Center drop-off, which faces the undulating Entry Canopy. From there, a wide bank of steps ascends to the Civic Court, the second of the parterres. Facing one another across the Court are the Auditorium and the City Hall. Bounding the western edge of the space is a cafe, around whose bar winds a stair to an outdoor movie theatre atop the roof of the Auditorium. The City Hall straddles the site from San Vicente to Robertson Boulevard, from which entry to the Civic Center may also be gained via a separate courtyard providing access to various City hall departments. The principal entry to the City Hall, however, occurs under a monumental portal which penetrates the midsection of the building, connecting the Civic Court to the Park (the third of the parterres). The Park is organized about a center, sloping lawn, or Greensward, which opens out ward from the portal, flanked by groves of Palm and Ficus trees, planted in alternating rows. The edges of the Greensward extend to two observation and lighting towers which illuminate the softball field that occupies the lowest parterre. On this level sit the Fire Station, Pool and Recreation Center.

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