Los Alamitos, CA — August 27, 2025
As the sun dipped below the horizon on Wednesday evening, a father paused outside the newly opened Griffin Center to snap a photo of his son standing proudly in front of the glowing griffin. The illuminated emblem cast colorful light across the boy’s back, capturing more than just a picture. It was a shared moment of school pride, community spirit, and family connection.
Yesterday, August 27, 2025, marked the official ribbon-cutting for the Los Alamitos Unified School District’s newest campus addition. The Griffin Center is a 34,000 square foot, state-of-the-art athletics and events facility, and the second ground-up project completed in partnership with architecture firm Westgroup Designs.
The event welcomed students, families, board members, and staff for an open house tour of the building. Guests explored the expansive three-court gymnasium, 2,000 seat retractable bleachers, four team rooms, weight training suite, and indoor-outdoor concessions. At the heart of the facility is the Hall of Champions, a double-height glass-enclosed lobby that celebrates the school’s storied athletic legacy and sets the stage for future generations of Griffins.
Westgroup Designs CEO, Sima Hassani, delivered remarks during the ceremony, thanking the District’s leadership and facilities team for their trust and coordination throughout the design and construction process. “The Griffin Center is more than a building,” Hassani shared. “It is a bold statement of what Los Alamitos values most: excellence, opportunity, and pride.”
She added, “The building tells a story through its very form. At the entry, the abstract geometry of the canopy suggests the powerful motion of a Griffin’s wing. It is a symbolic tribute to the school’s mascot and enduring spirit of athletic pride.”
Superintendent, Dr. Andrew Pulver, echoed those sentiments, adding:
“Westgroup Designs… brought vision and heart to this project—and, honestly, have you seen a high school gym ever look like this? I have not… As soon as you come up the driveway, you can’t help but see this Griffin pride.”
The Griffin Center was intentionally designed to serve more than just athletics. It supports PE classes, student assemblies, community events, and performances. For the first time, outdoor sports now benefit from access to restrooms and concessions. The project reflects the District’s Four A’s framework: Academics, Athletics, Activities, and the Arts, ensuring equity, flexibility, and long-term value.
“This is a place where every student can grow, physically, mentally, and emotionally,” Hassani said. “We are truly honored to be part of this journey and look forward to supporting the District’s continued vision.”
Throughout the evening, the excitement was palpable. ASB students who had joined the project photography team were thrilled to explore the finished facility. They commented on the scale of the space, noting how much larger it felt than the old gym, and eagerly asked what new project might be next.
With the Griffin Center now open, Los Alamitos High School gains more than a new building. It gains a destination. A space that strengthens school pride, supports student life, and stands as a symbol of community investment for years to come.
Westgroup Designs pulled out a win for Most Spirited at the annual PeopleSpace 2022 Annual Bocce Ball Charity Tournament at Newport Dunes. With an Aloha theme for the event, our team channeled our 80s vibe to bring Magnum PI back to life! The real winners were all of the charities that benefited from thousands of dollars donated including Autism Speaks, the ASPCA and our charity, NEGU supporting those with childhood cancer and their families. Thanks to PeopleSpace - A Best In Class Haworth Partner for another successful event. Check out our recap video below:
Deft hands carefully steadied cans of tuna, baked beans and chicken inside Anaheim’s large transit station.
The collection of preserved food slowly took shape into a regal lion rising more than seven feet tall.
The public art piece and four other colossal canned food structures crafted by local architecture and engineering firms will be displayed through Sept. 27 at the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center as part of an effort to feed the poor.
View the original article from Orange County Register
John is bringing additional senior leadership power to the team!
John is joining WD with over 30 years of experience in planning, design, project management and business development. His inclusive, interdisciplinary approach has resulted in projects notable for their contextual sensitivity, programmatic responsiveness, economy, commitment to sustainability and award-winning design quality. In his spare time, he and his wife enjoy traveling, attending music concerts and sipping on wine.
Renee is on board to trim our sails to the wind!
Renee brings a holistic approach to strategy with experience in marketing, brand communications, business development, team leadership and organizational and talent management. She loves unlocking vision, creating direction and providing structure, and then seeing creative teams reap the benefits. Outside of work, Renee is dedicated to her husband and 4-year old daughter, “mini me.” Her bucket list includes visiting Angkor Wat, collaborating with Tony Robbins and space tourism.
Rilla is helping us up the ante in marketing and brand communications!
Rilla is a recent graduate from University of California, Santa Barbara with experience in marketing, social media, public relations and graphic design. She holds an incorrigible passion for creation, whether this means painting images on a canvas or computer screen, illustrating concepts through words or animating ideas via speech and sound. When she isn’t working, Rilla spends time with her family, blasts Electronic Dance Music (EDM), visits new eateries and stares into an abyss of corgi photos.
Organizations across the county entered into the two-part evaluation process. The first consisted of evaluating each employer’s workplace policies, practices and demographics worth 25% of the total evaluation. The second part consisted of an employee survey designed to measure the employee experience which was 75% of the total evaluation. Best Companies Group managed the overall registration and survey process and then analyzed the data to determine who the top companies were. The final ranking of the winning organizations will be released via a special section of the OCBJ’s July 27th issue.
http://www.bestplacestoworkoc.com/
We are currently under construction on our expansion space with renovation on the current office to begin shortly. Our anticipated completion is early March. As part of our community outreach, we were pleased to be able to donate 3,000 sf of ceiling tiles, lighting and air supply and return to the Legal Aid Society of Orange County. Legal Aid provides free and low-cost civil legal services to low-income families and senior citizens throughout Orange and Los Angeles counties.