Saint Monica Community Center

2014

Santa Monica, California

Saint Monica
Community Center

OVERVIEW

The Saint Monica Catholic Community Center transforms the Saint Monica campus after nearly a decade of planning and years of fundraising. Designed by Pica + Sullivan Architects, the project adds the Tina and Rick Caruso Community Center, Grand Pavilion and Grand Patio, the Carol G. Simon Child and Student Center, and a two-and-a-half-level subterranean parking structure. Together, these additions expand the campus by more than 100,000 square feet, increasing capacity for worship, gathering, education, and outreach.

CLIENT

Saint Monica Catholic Community is a large Santa Monica parish serving worship, education, fellowship, and outreach. The project responds to a growing congregation with expanded gathering space, improved access, school facilities, and dedicated areas for community-serving ministries.

PROJECT SCOPE

Building Area: 100,000 SF across multiple new campus facilities

Opening Date: 2013

Certification: LEED Gold 2014

DESIGN APPRROACH

The design addresses chronic parking and circulation issues while creating a more cohesive, welcoming campus for worship, education, and community life. It provides flexible assembly spaces, reinforces campus identity, supports parish and school programming, and expresses the spiritual character of Saint Monica through architecture, landscape, and light. Sustainability and long-term stewardship also guided the work.

Exterior of a plaza area with benches and a fountain at the Saint Monica Community Center in Santa Monica, a Pica+Sullivan Southern California educational and religious architectural project.

Sunset exterior of the front of the Saint Monica Community Center in Santa Monica, a Pica+Sullivan Southern California educational and religious architectural project.

The staircase from first floor to the second floor, with light streaming in from the wall of windows, at the Saint Monica Community Center in Santa Monica, a Southern California religious and educational architectural project.

Exterior of a stunning glass-windowed tower at the Saint Monica Community Center in Santa Monica, a Pica+Sullivan Southern California educational and religious architectural project.

"The goal was never simply to add square footage. It was to create a welcoming center for worship, fellowship, education, and outreach—strengthening the mission of Saint Monica for generations to come."

Exterior of the Saint Monica Community Center in Santa Monica, a Pica+Sullivan Southern California educational and religious architectural project, showcasing the second-floor windows.

Students and a teacher talk in an exterior plaza with a fountain and benches at the Saint Monica Community Center in Santa Monica, a Southern California educational and religious architectural project.

A low-angle ground-floor view of the corner walls, made up of windows, at the Saint Monica Community Center in Santa Monica, a Southern California religious and educational architectural project.

A woman sits at a table in a coffee and community room at the Saint Monica Community Center in Santa Monica, a Southern California religious architectural project.

Two women talk in a coffee and community room at the Saint Monica Community Center in Santa Monica, a Southern California religious architectural project.

Students laugh in an exterior plaza with benches at the Saint Monica Community Center in Santa Monica, a Pica+Sullivan Southern California educational and religious architectural project.

Students work at a classroom at the Saint Monica Community Center in Santa Monica, a Pica+Sullivan Southern California religious and educational architectural project.

An assembly room with a piano and rows of empty chairs facing a lectern at the Saint Monica Community Center in Santa Monica, a Southern California religious architectural project.

"The architecture draws from the history and spiritual character of Saint Monica while creating new spaces that feel open, welcoming, and connected to the life of the parish."

KEY INTERVENTIONS

The project adds a new community center with assembly and meeting rooms, parish offices, a bookstore and coffee bar, and space for outreach ministries including Hope at the Door. The Carol G. Simon Child and Student Center supports school-day and before- and after-school use, while the Grand Pavilion and Grand Patio create flexible settings for events and daily gathering. Below grade, a large parking structure improves access, meets demand, and reduces neighborhood strain. Daylighting, natural ventilation, recycled materials, and high-efficiency systems support sustainable performance across the campus.

CRAFT & ART

Architectural expression ties the new buildings to the parish’s spiritual and historic identity. The Community Center complements the existing campus and uses Indiana limestone to relate to the landmark church. At Lincoln Boulevard and California Avenue, the Saint André Bessette Chapel is defined by its luminous “Pillar of Light,” a glass-clad tower of varied panes, colors, and transparencies that serves as a neighborhood beacon. The landscape extends this contemplative character with drought-tolerant planting and the Albert C. Martin Fountain in the Grand Patio garden.

A large crowd attends a ceremony officiated by Catholic clergy with Joe Pica and Maureen Sullivan at the Saint Monica Community Center in Santa Monica, a Southern California religious and educational architectural project.

Students talk in an exterior plaza with benches at the Saint Monica Community Center in Santa Monica, a Pica+Sullivan Southern California educational and religious architectural project.

The exterior wall of the Saint Monica Community Center in Santa Monica, a Southern California educational and religious architectural project. The words

"Projects of this scale succeed when every piece works together. By integrating gathering spaces, student facilities, outreach programs, and parking into a cohesive campus, we created an environment that serves the community every day—not just during special events."

A room set up for a religious service at the Saint Monica Community Center in Santa Monica, a Southern California religious architectural project.

An empty meeting room at the Saint Monica Community Center in Santa Monica, a Southern California religious architectural project.

Students read quietly at the Saint Monica Community Center in Santa Monica, a Southern California religious and educational architectural project.

Students draw on construction paper at the Saint Monica Community Center in Santa Monica, a Southern California religious and educational architectural project.

OUTCOME

The completed Saint Monica Community Center ushers in a new era for the parish, giving a growing congregation greater ease, flexibility, and access. New spaces for worship, fellowship, education, and outreach support daily parish life and major community events, while improved parking and campus organization better serve visitors and neighbors. The project shows how architecture can strengthen mission, reinforce identity, and invest in the future of a
faith-based institution.

PROJECT TEAM

Architect: Pica+Sullivan Architects

Structural Engineer: Nabih Youssef Associates

Civil Engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers

Landscape Architect: Melendrez Landscape

Mechanical, Plumbing Engineer: Khalifeh & Associates

Electrical Engineer: OMB Electrical Engineers

Lighting: KGM Architectural Lighting

Waterproofing: Terra-Petra

Soils Engineer: Ralph Stone And Company

LEED Consultant: Gaia Development

Acoustical: Chu & Dohn Associates

Project manager: Gardiner & Theobald

General Contractor: Del Amo Construction

Photography: Randall Michelson Photography

CLIC
American Martyrs Church
New Middle School
Arts Center
DWC
New Parking Structure
Mozilo Center for the Arts

Newsletters

Fibonacci Sequence?
REJUVENATION
Community Relations
Shaping Dreams
Campus Master Plan
GAME DAY
Splashy Opening!

Contact Us

145 S Fairfax Ave Suite 403
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Phone: 323 653 7124

Let's Talk

2014

Santa Monica, California