Dockweiler State Beach General Refurbishment Program

Playa del Rey, California

This 288-acre, four-and-one-half-mile-long beach environment is situated at the terminus of LAX runways, which offers breathtaking views of the Santa Monica Bay and the Los Angeles Basin. Gruen Associates’ role was to create new and improved ADA-compliant public facilities that would either modify or replace existing facilities, which were nearly 50 years old. Among these improvements were a new main pedestrian/vehicular entry plaza area, new public restroom facilities, a refurbished concession building, new lifeguard substations, a refurbished administration/lifeguard headquarters building, a refurbished maintenance headquarters building, and refurbished public parking lots. Features such as building alignments on the north/south axis, sun dials, compass configurations in paved areas, water elements, wind-oriented ground features, color concepts and geometric compositions all collect to create a fresh new look and experience on this very popular beach.