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Camp Pendleton Child Development Center

camp pendleton child development center

The design for this 25,000 square foot CDC building divides the complex into smaller residential scale masses and forms that create spaces in scale and emotionally safe to the children, while providing rich and varied experiences and a contextual relationship with the surrounding residential neighborhood. The facility was designed with the ‘Reggio Emilia approach to child care, which focuses on the child’s connection with the environment and community. Another important goal was to create a safe and secure facility where the children’s experience is an extension of their home environment.

The building configuration and massing allow for cool prevailing summer breezes from the southwest and southeast while blocking the prevailing winter wind from the northwest. The interior and exterior spaces provide for learning through critical sensory experiences of touching, moving, listening, seeing and hearing. Different textures, visual elements, and flow patterns stimulate the children’s senses.

A random pattern of three colors of shot-blast CMU creates visual interest and an almost childlike texture. The darker color precision CMU wainscot provides a smooth safe surface at the child’s level. Steel trellises provide a visual interest to the building while creating shadows on the ground where the children can experience the pattern. Masonry ‘chimneys’ and covered walkways with masonry columns provide visual layering to break down the building massing.
Sustainable design features were selected and used to reinforce the design goals. Floor to ceiling windows bring in an abundance of natural day-lighting creating a better learning environment while providing in indoor/outdoor feel and views/connection to the outdoors. Numerous windows sizes and shapes allow for varying angles of light to infiltrate the space. Operable windows provide natural ventilation and contribute to the thermal comfort for users and allowing them to control their environment.

October 20, 2014

Hugo Multi-Family Townhomes

Hugo Multi Family Townhomes

This small site originally contained a tiny old fisherman’s shack from a long gone tuna fleet and cannery era. This is a four unit infill project in an older neighborhood in transition near the San Diego harbor. It is an excellent example of how a remarkable amount of living space can be created on a small lot (50’ x 100’) with privacy and spaciousness for each unit.

Each unit is stacked vertically, arranged like a ranch house on edge; garage (in our case basement garage) / studio, bedrooms, living / kitchen, and yard (in our case, a roof deck/ yard). The goal of the project was to re-create affordable homes in a neighborhood where land values have risen far beyond the typical single family home budget. The constraints of this site allow for a usable building area for each unit of 20’ x 40’. Each town home has a separate two car garage, two bedrooms, an 800 square foot open living/kitchen/dining area, and a large roof deck. The form of the building expresses the four units in a scale contextual to the evolving neighborhood while opening up to the views of the harbor. A part of the old shack wall has now been repurposed as an art piece, and a reminder of the former neighborhood.

October 16, 2014

Bonita Library

bonita library

This 10,000 square foot San Diego County Branch Library is located on a primary commercial street and backs onto the municipal golf course. The Library is one component of a master planned small Community Campus that also includes a 4,000 square foot Local History Museum, Public Safety Center, Veteran’s Memorial and a Community Courtyard.

The Library was sited to the back of the property to maximize the views and connections to the golf course and to take advantage of the abundant northern light. A continuous 28’ tall X 50’ wide glass wall faces the course to the North and minimizes the need for artificial illumination during the day. A tall and distinctive Zinc clad tower and strong rooflines were used to create an exterior identity and visibility from the street, offsetting the siting to the back of the property.

Sustainability was inherent to the design of the building. In addition to the solar day-lighting referenced above, passive methodologies of an insulated envelope, high performance glazing, and ample shading on the southern exposure were incorporated into the design. High efficiency, CFC Free, mechanical systems and the passive systems have the building operating at 28.6% below the codified energy allowances. These resulted in cash credits to the Client from the utility provider.

The building contains a 1,200 square foot Community Room, Adult Occupational Training Center and a Friend’s of the Library Bookstore and incorporates a “marketplace” concept. All of these spaces were designed into a storefront portion of the Library. While they are integral components of the Library, they can also function and operate autonomously. There is also an outdoor Children’s patio, passive reading areas and well as a generous covered patio between the Library and the Community Room.

October 4, 2014

First Congregational Church of Long Beach

First Congregational Church of Long Beach was established in 1888 with the assistance of the Bixby Family. Their current Florentine Renaissance facility located on the corner of 3rd & Cedar was constructed in 1914. It features Tiffany Windows, a large traditional pipe organ and handcrafted woodwork throughout. It was dedicated as a Historical Landmark in 1979.

Our project is an addition to this magnificent historic structure to house classrooms, meeting rooms, a Social Hall and Courtyard for the Church. The 17,963 s. f. addition is 2 stories over a basement that aligns with the main levels of the existing structure. The underlying concept for the project was to provide a usable, friendly outdoor space, a core to the ‘Urban Campus’ while still providing the needed functional expansion. The addition is pushed to the edges of the property, wrapping around and creating the courtyard. The street side of the courtyard is enclosed by a brick clad façade wall, penetrated by oversized gated openings, providing a welcoming vista and connection with the street. The new rooms and balconies all front onto and connect with the courtyard, giving it activity and vitality.

The addition was conceived to be sympathetic to and sub-servient of the existing historic structure without attempting to imitate it. The massing, materials and articulation of some of the secondary architectural elements of the existing building were emulated and ‘extruded’ to create the Cedar Avenue facade for the addition. Brick was selected that matched the existing brick, and pre-cast concrete elements were designed to emulate the existing Terra Cotta detailing. This façade element became a scrim behind which the addition occurred. The balance of the articulation for the addition was treated in a contemporary fashion with crisp stucco walls, clerestory ribbon windows, and large overhangs on a ‘Light/Floating’ metal roof. These treatments were purposeful to contrast with the elements alluding to the Historical Structure.

The project provided opportunities to improve upon the existing structure. The oversized elevator, ramps and aligning levels of the addition provide accessibility to all levels of the existing structure. The addition also includes a central plant chiller and ice storage HVAC system. This provides modern energy efficient cooling, operational cost savings, and simplified plant management for both the new and existing buildings.

The addition was designed to honor its historic neighbor, while at the same time improving upon the lifestyle, image and vitality of this urban church campus. The project successfully makes a place for the Congregation to mingle and interact, both indoors and out, while providing necessary expansion space for the next millennium.

October 4, 2014

St. Therese of Carmel Catholic Church, San Diego, CA

This multi-functional building contains the Parish Hall, Administration, Chapel, Meeting Rooms and storage for the campus. The Parish Hall was designed to accommodate a full sized basketball and volleyball court as well as serve as a venue for 400 patrons seated at tables. A low dense pile carpet with a camouflage pattern was developed for the flooring and highlighted in a case study. The carpet looks elegant to serve dinners and incorporates sport lines so it double functions as a gymnasium. Great care was taken in the selection of finishes, surfaces, materials and details to provide the ambiance required for a banquet facility, as well as be durable and safe for the indoor sports activities. The large room is designed with acoustically rated movable wall panels that can break the room down into 5 smaller rooms or one large venue. Additionally, this space is served by a full service commercial kitchen with a serving window.

The Daily Chapel is transformational from a classroom setting with a large monitor to a quiet contemplative Chapel.

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