Manhattan Beach Library - Manhattan Beach, CA

Our design of the new City of Manhattan Beach branch of the County of Los Angeles Public Library replaces the existing one-story, 12,500 SF facility with a two-story, 22,500 SF facility located in the city's downtown civic center along Highland Avenue. Occupying only half of the area of the original building, the new library allows for a nearly doubled expansion of the civic center plaza with open space. Designed for LEED Gold certification, the new library will include a dedicated children's library, a community meeting room, a teen center, adult collections, reading areas and public access technology. A key component of the ground floor is the children's library, as the current one is the most heavily used in all of the county library system. On the second floor, dramatic views of the Pacific Ocean are highlighted with a sweeping panorama from Malibu to the north and Palos Verdes and Catalina Island to the south. The library is part of a comprehensive facilities and open space strategic master plan for the city that was completed by our firm in 2008.