The Occidental Community Council, Safer West County, and Resilient Landscape Coalition are excited to announce this design competition for a reimagined landscape for the Occidental Community Center. Landscape architects, designers, contractors, and community members are welcome to submit designs.

Following the hard work of many community volunteers who have removed large amounts of dying and highly flammable vegetation surrounding the building, this project aims to transform the Center’s outdoor areas into a welcoming, ecologically sustainable, and community-serving landscape that reflects local values, supports biodiversity, and responds to the challenges of climate change.

In addition to increasing the Occidental Community Center’s visual appeal and public access/use, we hope to create a beautiful installation that demonstrates defensible space and resilient landscaping principles.

Submittals for this community-led and funded project must be received no later than midnight on November 24, 2025. (An open question period extends from September 27th to October 10th.) After review by a panel of judges, the community will vote on the winning candidate from the finalists.

Looking forward to seeing how beautiful this space might become!

For details on this Request For Design Submittals, please visit the full RDS and project graph here.