Projects Civic Center Campus

In April 2018, Interwest began providing complete turnkey Building and Safety services to the City of Lake Forest, particularly the Civic Center Campus. This 12.5-acre facility is the heart and social center of the Lake Forest community.

The Civic Center Campus is comprised of the City Hall Building, Community Center, Council Chambers, Senior Center and Parking Structure. The estimated cost of construction was approximately $60 million.

Although there was no formal RFP process, Interwest was selected to provide all plan check and inspection services. Our team at Interwest consisted of onsite professionals who delivered complete plan checks, engineering services, inspections, and electrical services. A member of the Interwest team, who also serves as CBO for Lake Forest, was directly involved in the plan review of the parking structure as well as the other four buildings.

One challenge our team faced during implementation was ensuring the secure placement of the building’s solar panels. Upon inspection, it was discovered that high winds caused the solar panels to continuously be pulled upward and out of place. Our Interwest team quickly reviewed the issue with the building’s architectural designers and after collaborating, found a solution of adding extra pinpoint connectors in addition to the 4 pinpoints the solar panels already had, securing them in place on all sides.

City of Lake Forest was awarded CALBO’s 2018-2019 Building Department of the Year Award, setting itself apart with excellent and responsive customer service. The City of Lake Forest Building Department has serviced over nine thousand walk-in customers, has performed over twenty-four thousand inspections and has issued almost three thousand permits. To this day, the City of Lake Forest continues to accomplish many goals while maintaining excellent customer service all while adding value to its communities.