Whitney Smith and Wayne Williams joined fellow Southern California architects in the 1940s and 1950s in the exploration of the ideal form of California living. However, some of Smith & Williams’ most innovative work was in their designs for low-rise office buildings. Their Community Facilities Planners Building at 1414 Fair Oaks Avenue, which the architects designed for their own offices, is an outstanding realization of the blend of indoor/outdoor environments, easy automobile access, natural light, and innovative use of geometric forms.

With prominent landscape architect Garrett Eckbo responsible for the landscape design, the building is a marriage of architecture and landscape. The trunks of thin, tall maple trees mingle with the tall vertical support posts, and one- and two-story office spaces interlock around a courtyard covered by metal canopies at varying heights. Globe light fixtures are suspended from the undulating barrel-shaped canopies. Exposed beams and skeletal, branch-like support systems expose the structural bones of the building.

Smith & Williams designed the building to be an environment where space planning could foster collaboration and create a “creative crucible” among its tenants. For a number of years, they shared the building with other design firms, including Eckbo’s firm, Eckbo, Dean, Austin and Williams (EDAW).