The site for Westlake Village’s civic center is located atop a terrace with challenging topography and panoramic mountain views. In addition to providing for the civic and cultural functions of Westlake Village, our team was charged with bringing civic identity to a city noted for its merger of both urban and rural values. The principal challenge of the site was providing for urban and pedestrian movement on a compact suburban site with a rich menu of program requirements: City Hall and Council Chamber, County Library, Community Meeting Rooms, Civic Square, Civic Garden, and surface parking. Informed by its rural surroundings the components of the civic center are arrayed in an H-shape with an extroverted hacienda form, that lends itself to civic functionality.
The glassy community living room/meeting room occupying the crossbar of the “H” commands breathtaking views over the landscape and links City Hall and Library. Surface parking located next to a pair of stepped terraces behind the main Civic Center leads visitors through a common Civic Square, which has become the City’s principal venue for public outdoor gatherings. The Conejo Mountains provide an outline for the rhythm, material, and tone of the architecture. The major finish materials—smooth finish cement plaster, copper, natural wood, and stone—provide both informal warmth and civic durability.
