The city of Laguna Beach, along the southern coast of Orange County, Calif., was founded as a small farming town. It evolved into an artists colony in the 1920s and has always had a strong sense of place. While its residents welcome development that will help the community, they are concerned about the environmental and aesthetic impact of any new building.

When LPA Inc. was hired in 2002 to design a new community center there, we were commissioned to create an integral community destination. The challenge was to design a structure that would be economical, sustainable and functional for children, youth, adults and seniors.

Keeping in context with the surrounding area, the center’s aesthetics reflect the town’s scale and hillside topography.

The project was two facilities in one: the Laguna Beach Community Center and Senior Center (the latter also called Susi Q, after longtime local resident and columnist Susi Quilter). Located in the city’s Civic Art District, the site was a three-quarter-acre lot between downtown Laguna Beach and residential neighborhoods.      

The center’s 72-space subterranean parking garage.

Building Consensus                                    

Whenever there’s talk of putting up a municipal building adjacent to homes, some homeowners will want it elsewhere. The key to building consensus was to hold a number of neighborhood meetings to address homeowners’ concerns about noise, the servicing of the building, parking management, and preserving the character of the road behind the project as the country lane it had always been.    

We spent our first six months on the project doing site studies, looking at the elevations of the houses above the site, and determining how to build without disturbing the residents’ views of the Pacific Ocean. Designing to accommodate the program and required parking while being a good neighbor was the challenge. Low-visibility parking was a must. The possibility that the new building would cause “light pollution” at night was another concern.

A warm library/lounge with a wood-truss ceiling and a central fireplace opens to an outside terrace view.

Affordable and Green

In 2002, the prevailing idea was that a sustainably designed facility meant expensive and a municipal building couldn’t afford to be green. However, because of our convictions, design strategies and later public demand, we resolved to make the project as ecologically sound as feasible within our $15.3 million budget. The result was a fresh, beautiful and contemporary space with clean lines and myriad sustainable design elements.

The approach focused on an abundance of daylight throughout the facility to cut down on energy costs and the use of recycled, natural and low-maintenance materials. For example, we used concrete that contained fly ash (a byproduct of the combustion of coal), which is a recycled resource that minimizes the energy required to produce concrete. Much of the structural steel included recycled material. We used dual-glazed windows to reduce solar heat and operable windows to take advantage of the mild climate.

We used fiber cement siding, which is more maintainable and durable than wood and has recycled content. The neighbors didn’t want the HVAC units on the roof of the building, so we placed them in a penthouse, fully enclosed and completely sound-attenuated. This allowed us to use a higher-performance, more-efficient mechanical system. We were also able to recycle 75 percent of our construction waste and save some mature agave plants, which were replanted on the completed site.

The Center provides a place where everyone in the community can come, relax and enjoy themselves.

Separate but United

The center is the culmination of the efforts of many, and it unites two organizations in a U-shaped design that parallels the coast. The center maintains the eclectic array and intimate scale of buildings found throughout the village with a cleverly infused residential character that complements the area. Its craftsman theme reflects the historic beach cottages with varied rooflines, fireplaces, terraces and courtyards. It’s a custom product built in a commercial environment.  

The finished project consists of two separate community centers in one building, one owned by Laguna Beach Seniors (a nonprofit organization), and the other by the City of Laguna Beach. They maintain separate identities, but they share many programs.  

A central spine joins the two facilities with a wonderfully light and airy central courtyard between them. A great deal of attention was paid to this main hallway in an effort to create a space where all generations could intermingle. It also is a space that demonstrates daylight and natural ventilation as much as possible.

A dream studio for any dancer, the room is spacious and infused with natural daylight via skylights.

The 9,000-square-foot community center offers dance classes, an art center with a big glass roll-up door, and a large community meeting room that can accommodate various organizations that have grown too big for the existing City Hall facilities.

The 9,000-square-foot Susi Q has a flexible multipurpose room for meals and classes, a catering kitchen, rooms for computer training, a game room, and a library/lounge, which is a great place for socializing.

A generation ago, a senior center was where you’d go to get a hot plate of food and then leave. But today’s seniors depend on these centers for camaraderie, exercise and education, as well.

Opening in January 2009, the project came in on budget and on time. Separately, Laguna Beach Seniors and the City of Laguna Beach could not have accomplished what they managed to do together. “This multigenerational center has immediately become the community’s activity hub,” says Laguna Beach Director of Community Services Susan Cannan, “a unique combination of beauty, sustainable design and function in downtown Laguna Beach.” 

Sidebar: Green Highlights of the Susi Q Senior and Community Center, Laguna Beach, Calif.

The flexible multipurpose rooms are used for dining, classes or social space for Laguna Beach Seniors.

·         Natural daylight through skylights and solar tubes.
·         Heat island reduction through a cool roof and covered parking.
·         Water efficiency through drip irrigation and water-efficient fixtures.
·         Operable aluminum-clad wood windows.
·         The recycling of 75 percent of the construction waste.
·         Use of building materials with high-recycled content.

Sidebar: Susi Who?

Susi Q signage above dual-glazed windows, which reduce solar heat gain.

Elizabeth Quilter (1916-2002) was Liz to her friends, mom to her four sons, and Susi Q to the readers of her column in the local paper. At first sight, she fell in love with Laguna Beach and lived there for more than four decades. She placed a high premium on independence and community, and since these are bedrock values for Laguna Beach seniors, her family’s decision to make a $750,000 donation for the Susi Q Senior and Community Center was an easy one. “I am so proud of this building,” says Ann Quilter, daughter-in-law of Susi Quilter, “you’d think I’d designed it, as well.”