This unique, joint-use, Essential Services Facility is the first phase of an 8-acre civic center for the City of Shasta Lake. It was designed to allow separate access control and circulation for the Sheriff’s Department staff, the City Council members, and the public. With two user groups, the County Sheriff and the City, in the same building, our challenge was to balance the programs, budgets, and specific security requirements of both users to create a cohesive, user-friendly design. As this building sets the design standard for the remainder of the Civic Center, it was important for us to develop a strong architectural language that responded to the mountain environments through the building’s form and materials. The steep gable and hip roof elements evoke the surrounding mountainous terrain and the rock masonry and heavy timber structural elements lend a feeling of permanence, and of resiliency to the extreme weather conditions endemic to the area.
