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A city hall away from the city By Sam Lubell
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Images courtesy Roto Architects. |
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L.A.-based RoTo Architects is designing a “neighborhood city hall” for Pacoima, California, a small community northwest of downtown Los Angeles. The building is one of a growing number of buildings that are not official city halls, but home bases for city councilpeople and increasingly active neighborhood councils. The structures are especially popular in sprawling locations like Los Angeles, where city halls can be many miles away.
The $15 million project, a steel, stucco, and glass box with varied exterior metal shading screens, will be located in the predominantly hispanic area’s downtown. The firm is also designing a plaza in front of the building with a large inlaid map of the city and a large screen for public movie viewings.
The project will contain a citizens’ hall, meeting rooms, city council representatives’ offices, and redevelopment and building-safety agencies. Commercial space will be located on the first floor. The structure will also have a large, second-floor outdoor deck called the palco (Spanish for skybox), designed mostly for assembly spillover and for watching the town’s parades, says firm partner Michael Rotondi, FAIA.
May 2006 |
