Responding to the combination of a years-long effort to expand library services and recent Parks and Recreation findings of a need for an arts and community center, the City of Yorba Linda commissioned Group 4 to develop a joint use project creating a “civic heartbeat” adjacent to a new Town Center shopping district.

The 4.7 acre campus positions a two story, 46,000 SF library and a 14,000 SF arts center to share a pedestrian paseo of outdoor rooms. The library provides a full range of community spaces and activities, including traditional collections for all ages, reading areas, and a range of collaborative spaces capable of supporting programs and groups large and small. The arts center includes gallery space, dance studios, a black box theater, and an outdoor amphitheater. The campus connects visitors to the various public amenities, gardens, art, and other features on site, and to the Town Center across the street.

This new civic campus celebrates its place in the community through materials creating an inviting and nurturing place to explore and thrive through warm colors and textures, and holistic, sustainable, human-scaled design. The architectural language was carefully selected to speak with the Town Center while asserting a distinguished civic presence. Part of the parking lot can be closed to increase the effective size of the paseo for special events and farmers’ markets.