Image credit: Shigeru Ban Architects
A Shigeru Ban Architects-designed Center for Community has broken ground in Altadena, aimed at strengthening resilience in the aftermath of last year’s deadly wildfires in Los Angeles.
Commissioned by the Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE) and located on Lincoln Avenue, the 1,600-square-foot building will provide mental health services, educational workshops, and community programming as part of CORE’s long-term wildfire recovery strategy.
Image credit: Shigeru Ban Architects
The design takes the form of a vaulted wood-beamed structure supported on both sides by shipping containers. The scheme has been designed to prioritize speed of construction, waste minimization, and financial cost. The team estimates that the center will take two to three months to construct and will cost approximately $300,000.
Groundbreaking ceremony. Image courtesy of CORE
“In 2025, our team responded to the L.A. Wildfires with Paper Partition Systems at the Westwood Recreation Center in Santa Monica and collaborated with SCI-Arc on fabricating, building and exhibiting a Paper Log House for Los Angeles,” Shigeru Ban, who was recently awarded the 2026 AIA Gold Medal, said. “This year, we will celebrate the opening of Altadena Community Center in collaboration with CORE, a project rooted in community and helping the City of Angels. SBA’s first project in Los Angeles, I look forward to seeing it open and serving those who need it.”
Over 18,000 homes and structures were destroyed in January 2025’s LA wildfires, killing at least 30 people and forcing more than 200,000 people to evacuate. Total property damages are estimated between $28 billion and $54 billion. The most destructive blazes were the Palisades Fire, which destroyed 6,837 residential, commercial, and other structures across the Pacific Palisades and Malibu, and the Eaton Fire, which destroyed 9,414 structures centered on Altadena.
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