Manhattan Beach Library – Manhattan Beach, CA

In the initial planning and design phase the new $17M City of Manhattan Beach Branch of the Los Angeles County Library will replace the existing one story 12,500 SF facility with a two story 20,000 SF facility located on county owned property in the city’s civic center in downtown Manhattan Beach. The new library will occupy only half the area of the site that the existing library does, allowing for the expansion of the civic center plaza with open space in the form of grass and trees. This area of the site will almost double the area of the plaza and feature a gentle slope creating a modest amphitheater for outdoor performances and events of all kinds. The library will face both Highland Avenue, the main arterial through downtown, and the plaza at the heart of the civic center. The new library will include a dedicated children’s library, community meeting room, 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. At the second floor dramatic views of the Pacific Ocean are afforded with a sweeping panorama from Malibu to the north to Palos Verdes and Catalina Island to the South. The library is part of a comprehensive Facilities Strategic Plan for the City also completed by our firm in 2008.