LAKE FOREST 

CIVIC CENTER PROPOSAL

​

CLIENT:  City of Lake Forest

​

Designed while Design Partner at Gonzalez Goodale Architects

Proposed in limited competition on a still-natural coastal-landscape site, this preliminary master plan concept challenged the City's preliminary RFP presumption of (extensive) surface parking for the new civic center.

​

Leveraging the dramatic topography of the site with tuck-under parking, and a series of terraces that descended - in combination with hiking trails - to a planned regional park, the proposal prioritized civic public space and outdoor gardens over land-hungry convenience parking.  A competing proposal, predicting City Council preferences and employing the surface parking solution, was successful.  The outcome will be a city hall that employs the same land-use patterns of its tilt-up light-industrial neighbors.