The master plan for the Avalon Civic Center recognizes the importance of Avalon Bay and its harbor lifestyle to the community. This is a place where island residents can cherish the past and manage their future. As the dominant organizing element, Avalon harbor is used metaphorically to organize the Civic Center components on the site. Development of a new plaza and boardwalk integrates the buildings and connects the new civic center to the community. The buildings are placed in a thoughtful composition and open park space setting to optimize the north to west views of Avalon Canyon while preserving a 100-year-old carob tree. This project features the adaptive reuse of existing resort bungalow buildings which were renovated and integrated with new building construction.
The design concept recognizes that the physical, communal, and emotional stability of the Avalon community is connected to the prosperity of Avalon Bay and that the island lifestyle is dependent on the vitality of the collective harbor community. Used as the dominant organizing element within the design, the harbor metaphorically connects the City Hall and Fire Station to the surrounding community. The modest civic center is further enhanced by the development of a new plaza and boardwalk that links the site back to Avalon Bay. Both the grounds and the architecture evoke the "craftsman style" of the Arts and Crafts movement of the early 1900s echoed by the predominant bungalow architecture.
Designed to LEED Gold standards, the Avalon Civic Center Master Plan provides significant sustainable design features which include natural ventilation concepts to minimize the need for air-conditioning, adaptive reuse of existing bungalows, 38% energy reductions compared to Title 24, and selective use of locally manufactured materials—considering most construction labor and materials are transported “over town” from Los Angeles Harbor.
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