All posts by TCA Architect

Classic California Setting Inspires Integral Place-Making

TCA Architect - Dec 19, 2018

TCA’s Hospitality Studio uses strategic planning to insert a new hotel into a commercial office site.

There are towns in Southern California that take pains to preserve the iconic environmental features that originally defined the region, such as rolling grass-covered hills dotted with clusters of Oak trees. When the head of a major real estate development company called upon TCA’s Hospitality Studio to help situate a new hotel on one of their prime commercial office properties, they were seeking to resolve their own land use needs with that town’s preservation-minded zoning criteria. Siting for the new development would have to meet strict parameters: hundred foot setbacks, a height limit that implied a three story maximum and, while retaining as much parking as possible, preserving more than a hundred mature Oak trees. So, where could one place a new hotel, which most major brands would say needs to be at least four stories to meet their typical guest room count, while also preserving the intrinsic qualities of the site?

Setting the hotel into the base of a hill anchors the building on the site, preserves the Oak trees, frees up the remainder of the parcel for parking, and addresses the town’s planning rules that rigorously restrict building height and visibility.

The answer lay in a site plan the owner had already presented to TCA, on which another architect placed a hotel, in the conventionally suburban manner, smack dab in the middle of the parcel and surrounded with parking. But this predictable strategy took one bold exception to the existing context, proposing to excavate a good portion of a forty foot high, rocky hill that separates the hotel parcel, on the northern tip of the site, from an existing office building to the South. If the owners were willing to expend the resources required to carve this much earth away just for parking, then, reasoned TCA’s designers, why not use that cleared space for the hotel itself? The architects pointed out that making this one straightforward move addressed all the important site restrictions in a single stroke.

This proposed building placement, hugging the hill, reserves the majority of the parcel for parking, leaves virtually all the Oaks untouched, pulls the building well clear of the setbacks and, by measuring the building height from the adjacent grades, makes moot the three- story height limit. The next steps for this development are yet to be worked out, but initial planning by TCA’s staff has thus far adeptly yielded a customized solution for this special site that promises programatic efficiency, distinctive character, respect for public values and harmony with the natural setting.

“Building transcends physical and functional requirements by fusing with a place, by gathering the meaning of a situation. Architecture does not so much intrude on a landscape as it serves to explain it.” Steven Holl, FAIA, Anchoring, Princeton Architectural Press, 1991

Rediscovering Hospitality Gold in San Francisco

TCA Architect - Aug 17, 2018

TCA’s Hospitality Studio helps re-craft the InterContinental SF to suit millennial tastes.

The InterContinental San Francisco, next door to Moscone West Convention Center, is a major presence on the street, with floor to ceiling glazing at the ground level public areas where TCA’s new work will be on full display, come 2019.

Hotel interiors get a make-over every five to seven years. Materials get worn, fashions change and customer expectations evolve. Over the past ten years, the boutique concept has matured and become the norm for downtown properties. And now millennial business travelers, who like casual, work-anywhere spaces, cocktail culture and specialty food selections preferably available with all the above, are driving traditional brands to change it up. The owners of the InterContinental Hotel next to the Moscone Convention West Center, in San Francisco realized that their property, originally opened in 2009, while gracious and coolly elegant, was a bit quiet and formal for today’s traveller, and decided to re-create their public space.

The owners selected the very contemporary, bay area- based interior design group, EDG Design for the task, and asked TCA’s Hospitality Studio to support the owners as Architect of Record.

Revisions began incrementally, a couple of years ago, working to maintain operations while upgrading key areas in the main lobby. And the new lobby lounge and concierge area is now a co-working space with an over-sized natural wood table replete with power and data. There’s a hand- crafted feel to the fixtures and furnishings that suits the DIY spirit of younger professionals, but all is elegantly proportioned and finely finished.

Next on the schedule is the remainder of the ground level public areas, including the bar, “888,” named after the building’s address (“ba ba ba” is three times lucky in Chinese culture), a new speciality food station and dining lounge, and a full-scale upgrade of the Luce Restaurant. Build-out for all areas is scheduled for the Spring of 2019, and TCA will be there from start to golden finish.

The hotel’s restaurant needed to boost their street-front presence, and protect diners from a near constant breeze. The solution: a sleek new vestibule, “gilded” in brass panels. And the bar’s name, 888, taken from the building address, means good fortune in Chinese culture.

Decoding Historic Design Guidelines For Hotel Addition

TCA Architect - Jan 23, 2018

The key to approvals for an addition to a landmark is “compatibility.” Permitting authorities rely upon architectural historians to make this determination, and these experts base their evaluations on the Secretary of the Interior Standards, a set of ten detailed, but at times, vexingly ambiguous, guidelines for architects. For example, according to Standard Nine, additions must be compatible, but also clearly “differentiated,” so as not to devalue the original building. TCA’s design for an addition to the San Jose city-landmarked Hotel Clariana responds to the Secretary’s rules with an elegantly, clear-cut strategy, using distinctly modern style, but modulating the expression to compliment the scale and rhythms of the historic building.

The Hotel Clariana, was originally built in 1913, for the YMCA, to the Beaux-Arts-style designs of local architect William Bender, who also designed the former Hotel Montgomery, on First Street, where TCA has proposed a high-rise addition.

The existing hotel, built in 1913, was designed for the YMCA, by William Bender, the same architect who designed the former Hotel Montgomery, on First Street, where TCA has proposed a high-rise addition. The strategy here borrows from the work of Le Corbusier, the 20th Century’s leading modern architect, who’s famous “five points of architecture” defined a new formal vocabulary.

TCA Hospitality Studio Director, Paul Adamson, FAIA initiates the addition design with a minimalist base, including exposed concrete columns, or “pilotis,” Corbusier’s first “point,” which frees the ground level for largely transparent storefront, a modern take on the oversized picture windows in the older building. At the top of the new building facade, Adamson appropriated Corbusier’s “point” four, horizontal windows, to embellish the topmost guestroom level – a modern analogue to the ornamental attic story on the original Clariana facade.

An unusual program request – dwellings for the owners and their extended family – inspired Adamson to make distinctive use of Corbusier’s fifth and most poetic “point,” a roof garden. At a level above the existing building, he carves away from the prismatic shape of the base-building to fashion three apartments, with terraces and curved living rooms, fringed in greenery. With this formal exception Adamson transforms the new building into a singular aesthetic event, clearly distinguishing the new addition from the existing building.

This concept study for the Hotel Clariana addition – a compact “U” shape, yields 90 new guest rooms to add to the existing 40, in the historic building. Three penthouses, for the owner’s family, introduce a distinctive aesthetic flourish.

The future of parking structures

TCA Architect - Aug 29, 2017

What to do with parking structures in a future with driverless cars?

As Tesla, Apple, Google, and others develop technology for autonomous cars, will there be a need for all the parking that we provide in our multifamily projects? Many people say “no” with the assumption that the need for car ownership will decrease in place of Uber like car services that will pick you up and drop you off at the click of your iPhone. So, with so many of our existing multifamily projects containing vast amounts of subterranean or above grade parking at ratios of 1.8 stalls per unit or greater, what will happen to those spaces when the demand is no longer needed? We have a few thoughts to consider as the future draws ever nearer to the present:

For Podiums:
How about carving out some of that deck to create opportunities for additional units off of a sunken plaza?
Maybe creating some additional amenity spaces?
We always have too much stuff, what about personalized storage areas where parking stalls used to be?

For Wraps:
With very little effort, adding amenities is a no brainer!
What about creating an outdoor park or garden on the upper deck?
Laminating units within the garage that face out to an open edge wouldn’t be such a bad idea…

There may always be a need for parking in these garages. Autonomous cars need someplace to lay their weary fenders, and some people will always want to own a car, even if it drives itself. But it seems that the need for so much parking may not be entirely necessary as the future catches up to us.

The goal now is, how to capitalize on it.

TCA raises $107,000 for Habitat for Humanity of Orange County

TCA Architect - Jul 14, 2017

It was a beautiful day at Oak Creek Golf Club in Irvine, California as TCA hosted our 17th Annual Charity Golf Tournament benefiting Habitat for Humanity of Orange County. The sold-out tournament, has now raised $107, 000, bringing the total to more than $1.2 Million for the non-profit since its inception.

Golfers dining on double double cheese burgers from legendary So Cal based In-N-Out (Provided by VCA Engineering) as well as Premium Craft Beer provided by Cismontane Brewery, margaritas and rum drinks at the “PAR”adise Tent, specialty cigars, and free designer apparel from Travis Mathew. They putted for a chance to win $10,000 (Sponsored by Edelman Financial) and took shots at a Hole in One to win a 2017 Mercedes-Benz (provided by Fletcher Jones, Newport Beach.)

CLICK ON THE PHOTO FOR MORE EVENT PHOTOS!!!

“With homelessness levels at all-time highs, it is now more important than ever to go above and beyond in providing homes for those less fortunate. Habitat for Humanity does a wonderful job ensuring all contributions and efforts are translated right back into our local community,” said Aram Chahbazian, TCA Architect’s President and Managing Partner. “We are extremely grateful for the firms who participate year after year and support our tournament’s cause.”

Gold Sponsors included: AMPAM Parks Mechanical and TCA Architects. Silver Sponsors included: Sares-Regis Group and Bernards. Bronze Sponsors were: Fluidmaster and the Frome Family Foundation. Additional sponsors included VCA Engineers, Edelman Financial, R.D. Olson, and Fletcher Jones Newport Beach.

All proceeds from the event are used by Habitat for Humanity of Orange County to build and repair affordable homes for limited-income families in the communities of Cypress, Westminster, Santa Ana, Anaheim and Orange.

For information on participating in our tournament please
contact: Melissa Logan – [email protected]

For information on getting involved with Habitat for Humanity of Orange County visit: https://www.habitatoc.org/

Time to Celebrate!

TCA Architect - Jun 08, 2017

We are pleased to announce several of TCA’s projects recently received prestigious awards for their excellence; both in our Architectural and Graphic Design Studios! The Pacific Coast Builders Conference (PCBC) Gold Nugget Awards celebrates those who utilize innovative design practices to address and solve complex design/build issues. They also recognize firms who improve our communities through exceptional concepts in design, planning and development. TCA proudly presents our Merit Winners:

ARCHITECTURAL STUDIO
One Paseo, San Diego, CA
“Best on the Boards Mixed-Use Community”
Project Team:
Kilroy Realty (Developer)
TCA Architects (Residential Architect)
Gensler (Office Architect)
Ware-Malcomb (Retail Architect)
Lifescapes International (Landscape)
Style Interior Design (Interiors)
Western National Group (Builder)

Best on-the-Boards Mixed-Use Community

For additional photos and project information:
https://tca-arch.com/work/one-paseo//

VIO, San Jose, CA
“Best Multifamily Community (30-60 du/ac)”
Project Team:
JDA West (Developer)
TCA Architects (Architect)
Smith + Smith Landscape (Landscape)
Ally Michaels (Interiors)
Brown Construction (Builder)

Best Multifamily Community (30-60 du/ac)

For additional photos and project information:
https://tca-arch.com/work/vio/

GRAPHIC DESIGN STUDIO
The TCA Graphics Studio has also received several awards from the International Design Awards (IDA) a program that celebrates and promotes legendary design visionaries as well as uncovers emerging talent in Architecture, Interior Product, Graphic and Fashion Design. Winning projects ranged from environmental graphics, to print and media including TCA’s annual design journal “base.”

Virtual Reality: Changing the game in architectural design

TCA Architect - May 11, 2017

Architects talk about the way a building “feels.” What they’re really talking about is the “scale” of the building, and the relationship of your personal scale to the scale of the overall space. VR allows you to tap into that scale. It’s important to note that our job as architects is the visual representation of data.

When we create drawings and construction documents, those drawings are used to construct the building. They have to be very clear and extremely concise so that the building can be put together. VR not only shows you what is in the architect’s mind, but lets you look around and explore what is inside their head. Being able to actually step inside the design is invaluable to an architect. Why and how?

Well, VR accelerates the understanding curve – the way clients comprehend your project. Basically it levels the playing field when it comes to understanding Architectural data by placing you directly in the environment. For example we have a project in Burbank, California where at the center of the project there is a plaza with two buildings on opposite sides of the plaza. There was concern about it having a “canyon effect” if the buildings are too high in comparison to the size of the plaza. For months we were sending diagrams and conception drawings but there’s just no way to draw it, and there wasn’t a traditional way to solve that problem. To solve this problem, we physically placed the city council members into the plaza itself using VR. I asked them to look up and describe what they saw. From that moment, the back and forth discussing this problem was over. The question had been answered by technology. Without VR we wouldn’t really know that until the buildings had been built. To place people in the project before you’ve even broken ground, that’s an incredibly powerful tool to have in the toolbox.

Another way in which VR has changed the game for architects is perception.

Typically, buildings are designed from the outside in, but with VR the very nature of what you are creating demands that you view the project from the inside out. For example, if I show you a high-rise tower in VR, you’re not going to be concerned what the building looks like from the outside. Instead, you’re going to be concerned with what your views are from inside out. As a real estate agent, you can start to market the building before it is even built.

CLICK IMAGE TO SEE VR PANO GALLERY

For project demos contact: Matthew Vitti, VR Architect [email protected]

When parking is a puzzle…literally

TCA Architect - May 03, 2017

Here in the Bay Area automated parking systems, usually in the form of “puzzle lifts” are gaining wide market acceptance and have become the norm for TCA projects in San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, San Leandro, and Emeryville. This trend is coinciding with parking ratios going down as we are called upon to design projects on highly constrained sites near transit. Do not confuse puzzle lifts with “stackers” which don’t support horizontal movement and don’t provide independent access to each car. Stackers are like vertical tandem spaces and don’t work for units with a single space.

Berkeley was the pioneering jurisdiction; first approving puzzle lifts in the early 1990’s. They are now widely used and accepted in the urban core of the Bay Area, in New York City and throughout Europe and Asia.

Why use puzzle lifts? Essentially because you get 2-4 parking spaces in the same plan area as 1. There are double, triple, and quadruple lifts in which 2, 3, or 4 stacks of cars share a common drive aisle. Typically in a 3-high puzzle, the middle level moves horizontally while the upper and lower levels go up and down. They can accommodate up to 29 cars in a single machine (each has one missing space so the larger the machine the more efficient.) The mechanism is placed behind the structural concrete columns so that cars can pass sideways across structural bays. They are supported by steel tube beams spanning between the columns. The 3 high puzzles require about 12’-6” clear height and a pit of 5’-9” to 6’ for the lowest level of cars. For that you get savings on concrete and ramps, much more efficient use of space, less excavation and the ability to capture more units beneath a set building height.

We are using puzzle lifts because parking above grade is not allowed in downtown San Francisco, even if invisible from the street, or because toxic soil makes excavation very expensive (as in Emeryville and San Leandro.) Increasingly automated parking is a “no-brainer” to a lot of our clients. Tenants like them because their cars are secure and protected from dings and vandals. By pressing a fob, the tenant commands the machine to find her car and deliver it to a specific spot each time, typically within a few minutes. The tenant opens a gate, gets in the car and backs out into the drive aisle as normal. Upon returning the tenant again activates the machine, which opens a gate in same location, so it acts like an assigned space. Once they’ve seen it most people think it’s very cool.

Be aware that fire departments will want sprinklers at each level of cars and some FDs want access to the pits. Generally if a jurisdiction is unfamiliar with puzzle lifts they will give you a harder time but the companies will help you. At 390 First Street in SF (a life-safety high rise) we found that so much fire water needed to be stored that we had to break up the rows of machines with divider walls, thus reducing efficiency a little.

The German made Klaus is the best known and best supported brand. Other manufacturers include the Chinese CityLift and Harding, and German Woehr (similar to Klaus but more competitive). CityLift is electric drive and Klaus is mechanical hydraulic drive. Cars are held on trays similar to the hydraulic lifts used in repair shops. Dimensions vary depending on the size and weight of vehicles to be accommodated. Each tray can be served by a cable to charge electric cars. CityLift costs about $13K to $14K per car; Klaus is about $15K. Yearly maintenance contract costs are passed along to the tenants. The lifts are about as reliable as elevators. You can protect from power failure by hooking them up to a portable generator.

Puzzle Lift System, 1511 Jefferson, Oakland, CA

Additional resources:
https://cityliftparking.com/
https://www.hardingsteel.com/carmatrix-2
https://www.woehr.de/en/

Fullerton: Becoming a “shoe-in” for walkability

TCA Architect - Mar 24, 2017

I recently entitled a project near Fullerton’s downtown which also happens to be my personal community since the late ‘60’s. According to Redfin, Fullerton has a Walk Score of 54, Bikeable score of 46 and and Transit comes in at 34. The city is in the process of creating a bicycle master plan that will increase the city’s bicycle network, and directly benefit the future walkability score of the site.

I have always thought of downtown Fullerton (located in Orange County, CA) as fairly walkable; however, the past several months have brought me face-to-face with some of my beloved city’s design challenges and made me really start to think about this notion of walkability. What’s makes a city walkable? What makes a car-lover trade in their keys for shoelaces?

I recently listened to a lecture by Jeff Speck of Speck & Associates, a city planner and urban designer, who discussed some basic principles of walkability that every city can benefit from. Jeff argues that there are four things that need to take place simultaneously to make the walk in your city successful:

There needs to be a proper reason to walk.
The walk has to feel safe.
The walk has to be comfortable.
The walk has to be interesting.

Fullerton’s downtown is fairly walkable in certain directions. Running North/South, the block size is around 300 feet and lined with mature trees which help create a barrier between the road and the sidewalk. There are ample shops and restaurants, and while there is no parking on the main street, there is parking on all the outlying streets, and some public parking structures. So, on the surface, it sounds pretty good. So what can make it better?

Fullerton Downtown Proposed

A vibrant, walkable downtown needs a proper balance of uses. Typically, what is missing in a downtown are people. Placing homes in the heart of, or directly adjacent to, the downtown creates the synergy that most communities desire in a walkable city. With people living right there, the need for the car is greatly diminished, because everything can reached by a safe, comfortable, interesting walk. In fact, it can be less convenient to get in your car to drive down the street to get pizza, than it is to walk. When you bring housing back into your downtown, other elements of good design tend to follow (restaurants, entertainment, groceries, etc.).

“Housing is the catalyst that helps to create a successful walkable downtown.”

A fundamental flaw in Fullerton’s downtown, however, comes once you move off of the main street, Harbor Boulevard heading in the East/West direction. There, the block sizes are approximately 600 feet long – double that of the North/South direction. Traffic is faster along these streets and the lack of mid-block connections eliminates any walkable connections to local shops. Instead, pedestrians experience surface parking lots, since it has been designed to accommodate the car and not the pedestrian.

Creating three new streets in the north south direction would cut the block sizes down to less than 300 feet and provide much needed connections to shops and restaurants. The parking removed from the surface lots, is replaced along the streets, providing more convenient parking in front of establishments. Plus street parking helps to create a barrier between pedestrian and vehicle, making the walk much safer. These new streets would allow opportunities for new retail or mixed use development to fill in the gaps and create even more interaction for the downtown core. People are drawn to places with good edges.

Keeping the streets narrow would also be a good idea. Narrow streets help slow traffic and slower cars are more conducive to walkable neighborhoods. Angled parking also helps to keep traffic slow and can typically provide more parking than using a standard parallel stall. And layering in Class 1 or Class 2 bike lanes provides additional options for people to get around without the use of the automobile. If you want people riding bikes in your community, then you have to install the appropriate bicycle infrastructure for them to do so. Finally, having a robust mass transit network is key. You can have a walkable neighborhood without mass transit, according to Speck, but you can’t have a walkable city that way. To become less auto-dependent you must have the ability to get to all parts of the city.

Street lined parking that protects pedestrians

Some of these things are easily achievable, and some are not. But the more of these things we can do, the better our cities become. By 2030, we need to make some pretty serious reductions in our greenhouse gas emissions, and just driving electric cars and putting solar on our roofs is not going to be enough. It requires taking a step back and thinking about how we can best achieve our goals. Densification should not be considered a scary thing that will destroy our community. When done well, it can actually be the best thing for the city and its residents.

Solar powered “Eco-Units” – The hot new trend

TCA Architect - Mar 08, 2017

These days, it’s not unusual for single family homes to be outfitted with photovoltaic panels, and although multifamily buildings over three stories are not required to meet California’s net-zero mandate until 2030, there is a growing trend in “net-zero” apartment homes. Take for instance, Hanover Olympic, a 263 unit urban infill community located in downtown Los Angeles. Developed by Hanover Company, the building offers 20 units are completely powered by photovoltaic panels, producing enough energy for each unit to be completely self-sustaining.

Hanover Olympic – Eco Unit

The individual units are able to send power back to the utility for monthly credits on the renter’s utility bills that vary throughout the year. They are the first “net-zero” rental apartments in the city of Los Angeles, but with a growing population of environmentally conscious renters, these energy autonomous units are just the beginning.

To see more photos of Hanover Olympic https://tca-arch.com/work/hanover-olympic/