The Malibu Lumber Yard is a 32,000-square-foot, outdoor lifestyle retail center on a 2.7-acre iconic lumber yard redevelopment site located on Pacific Coast Highway in the heart of Malibu, California’s retail district. Preserving the historical significance and community spirit of the site, ValleyCrest Design Group resurrected the original character of the site with a modern interpretation through the use of materials once produced at the Malibu Lumber Yard. The result is a high-end, boutique retail center and family destination that boasts consumer appeal while doing its part to protect the environment.

An historic hardware store and lumber yard previously inhabited the site in a building surrounded by asphalt and sparse plant material. Wood paneling from this historic building was reused as siding for one of the shop buildings at Malibu Lumber Yard.

Developed in a city with water quality and stormwater runoff issues and years of environmentally insensitive development, Malibu Lumber Yard underwent intense public scrutiny as a development project in one of the most strictly regulated environments in the region. The end result was the creation of a popular local destination and a prototypically sustainably designed project. Project elements include water conservation, stormwater treatment, use of FSC certified wood and reduction of heat island effect. The project communicates a clear message that sustainable design is comfortable, beautiful and more fun than typical retail construction.

Malibu Lumber Yard, two levels built around a central courtyard has become a popular community living room. Three vertical saltwater aquariums anchor the space and underscore a message of connectedness to the Pacific Ocean, a mere stone’s throw away.

Sustainable Design: Challenged with a retail core not oriented to the highly traveled Pacific Coast Highway that traverses by Malibu Lumber Yard, the design team used focal points on visual axes and geometry in the paving to help suggest movement within the interior courtyard of the two-level retail center. A playful, art driven, design approach promotes functional uses for all ages. The courtyard features striking geometry that draws inspiration from the surfing culture of Malibu and the surf board form itself. An outdoor “living room” is designed within the space that features comfortable and functional furniture reflecting a relaxed, beach atmosphere, executed in material appropriate to the property’s original lumber yard use. The furniture has been sourced from a variety of manufacturers as well as custom designed for Malibu Lumber Yard. Dining tables and chairs of recycled materials will be provided for outdoor dining. The courtyard is an ideal spot for people to gather and socialize, and for children to play, while serving as an area for community events.

The design succeeds in creating a modern, yet authentic, interpretation for a new retail center through the use of natural, earth-toned hues derived from such materials as Cor-Ten steel, corrugated metal, galvanized steel, stainless steel, polished concrete, and board formed concrete. Ipe (Pau lope wood), a sustainable Brazilian hardwood, was used for deck walkways, while reclaimed wood siding from a more than 100-year-old barn was used as siding for one of the buildings. To emphasize the ocean theme, the Malibu Lumber Yard also includes three vertical saltwater aquariums, two standing nine feet tall and one standing 11 feet tall that serve as compelling focal points for visitors to the retail destination. One tank features the aquatic life of the Pacific Ocean at Malibu, another features the California State fish, the Garibaldi, while the third tank features a collection of stunningly beautiful tropical fish from the South Pacific.

Sustainable Measures: Malibu Lumber Yard features sustainable building and landscaping materials, as well as some of the most advanced water and energy conservation techniques. As local residents of Malibu, the developers’ inherently understood their community responsibility to protect sensitive ocean areas by practicing true environmental sensitivity and stewardship. This encompassed the implementation of advanced water conservation measures, including drip irrigation, low-flow faucets and toilets, and waterless urinals. The project also has been designed to use recycled water wherever appropriate. In addition to water conservation, the Malibu Lumber Yard features one of the most advanced waste-water treatment systems available that can treat up to 17,000 gallons of the shopping center’s wastewater each day, a level far exceeding applicable water quality standards.

Malibu Lumber Yard has been designed as a fully self-contained water management project. Innovative water measures and maximized permeable surfaces contribute to a 100% on-site collection, treatment and filtration system.

The sustainable green design approach called for replacing 75% of the sites’ existing impervious surface with pervious landscape elements such as decomposed granite and incorporating sustainable plantings such as Kentia Palms, Philodendrons, exotic succulents, a 60-year-old aloe tree, and California native plants. Careful attention was made to select botanical elements that would thrive in the coastal environment where exposure to salt and wind can damage plants. To complement the contemporary design palette, sculptural specimen plantings were chosen to communicate and celebrate organic, playful and artful growth.

 By utilizing the most advanced water and energy conservation techniques and sustainable building and landscaping materials, a new kind of shopping destination has emerged, one that combines big consumer appeal with a small carbon footprint. The result is a beautiful, fun and diverse retail experience that matches Malibu’s sophisticated yet casual culture and abundant natural beauty.

Landscape Performance Benefits:

- Incorporated environmentally responsible materials by using FSC certified wood for the main deck area, which encompasses 9,990 square feet

- Reduced heat island effect with the use of 19 trees for shade, and materials that have a higher SRI than the previous use, which had significant amounts of asphalt onsite. 100% of the asphalt was replaced with permeable materials 70% of which have 7 times the reflectance.

- Collects and treats 100% of onsite stormwater and waste water

- Eliminated need for a conventional drainage system

- Eliminated potable water-use for irrigation

- Reduced water usage for irrigation by 66%

- Utilized permeable paving for 100% of the non-building area of the site

Sustainable Features:

- Pau lope wood, an FSC certified sustainable Brazilian hardwood, was used for the main courtyard deck and walkways.

- Reclaimed wood from a more than 100-year-old barn was used as siding for one of the buildings.

- Light colored permeable pavers, natural colored permeable concrete and planted areas reduce heat island effect and the need for energy related to interior air-conditioning.-

 The comfortable outdoor lifestyle environment with coastal elements like saltwater aquariums and native riparian plant material creates a strong and unique sense of place.

- Precast concrete pavers, planters, permeable asphalt and a courtyard deck built over a bioswale all assist with stormwater filtration. This design strategy reduced impermeable surface area by 75% from the previous use of the site even with the addition of new building area.

- Runoff is filtered onsite via bioswales and gravel beds before it is discharged to the municipal system.

- Waste water is processed in an onsite waste-water treatment plant that can treat up to 17,000 gallons a day, to a level far exceeding applicable water quality standards.

- Water management efforts provide the city of Malibu with clean waste water, subsequently contributing to the protection of the adjacent estuary habitat and surf destination.

- Reclaimed water is used for 100% of the irrigation for the site.

- Plants selected for the site include California native plants, succulents and other low and extremely low water-use plants that require 1/3 as much water compared to a baseline plant palette.

- The irrigation system is designed to tailor water supply by hydrozone insuring that plants obtain only as much water as they need to grow in a healthy manner.

- Additional irrigation cost savings are attributed to low water use plant material selected for the site, which lowered irrigation needs by 66% therefore offsetting irrigation costs significantly.

A palette of native plant materials including California Sycamores, Toyon and California  Lilac are combined with a rich array of xeric materials like Aloes, Kentia Palms and agaves, emphasizing the water conservation directive that drives much of the site design.

Lessons Learned:

- The sustainability measures the team proposed for the project were embraced by the City, the residents and the media, which influenced the project’s approval and established a high precedent for other retail centers to follow.

- Initial attempt to use decomposed granite as a permeable parking surface failed as dust and mud were too difficult to contend with and the center’s retailers were getting too many complaints from Malibu residents. It was replaced with a combination of permeable interlocking pavers and permeable concrete.

- Some sustainable strategies were not acceptable to the fire department in this extremely high fire area.

Project Title:
Malibu Lumber Yard

Designer:
ValleyCrest Design Group

Project Team:
Developer: Malibu Lumber LLC
Executive Architect: RTK Architecture
Landscape Architect: ValleyCrest Design Group
Landscape Contractor: ValleyCrest Landscape Development, Inc.
Development Management: TDG Corp.
General Contractor: Matt Construction
Lighting Design: Lightvision Architectural Lighting Design
Civil Engineering: Psomas
Structural Engineering: Specialty Structural Services, Inc.

Project Address:
3939 Cross Creek Road
Malibu, Calif. 90265

Land Use:
Greyfield

Project Type:
Outdoor Retail Center

Project Size:
2.7 acres

Budget:
$24 million total budget
$5 million – design-build, landscape, hardscape and irrigation work

About the Author
Dennis Kaiser
Communications Senior Manager,
Public Relations
ValleyCrest Landscape Companies