The Girl Scouts Leadership Center

The existing Girl Scouts facility comprised two separate properties with older low-rise buildings dating as far back as the 1950s. Another adjacent property with a vacant and vandalized restaurant building and one with a parking lot were acquired.

For this project, all four properties were combined and redesigned into a cohesive campus, incorporating two of the existing buildings and replacing the vacant restaurant with the new two-story girl scout leadership building.

This new building is occupied by all-girl activity spaces including a recreation center, retail store, troop rooms, a multi-purpose lobby, and storage space for cookies.

The program for the building was to create “wow” for the girls. This was accomplished with color, light, openness, and wide open views into all spaces.

Glazing reveals vistas all the way to the Catalina mountains to the north and out to the girl’s patio to the south. It also allows passersby to see and discover the various activities happening inside the building.

The multi-purpose lobby serves as a hub for viewing displays, for Girl Scouts ceremonies, and for visual and physical access to all points
in the building.

The stairway also serves as a stage for the girls during presentations.

The life of the building is expressed through
a whimsical use of traditional and youthful colors.

On inauguration day, a mother entered the lobby with her daughter who had not yet joined the Girl Scouts.

The girl stopped at the entrance, looked around, and said “wow”!