League of Forward Thinkers

With the push to increase sustainability in construction, building codes are being adapted to allow for taller mass timber structures. These code changes have enabled the wider application of mass timber construction, particularly in the

The dynamics of urban living are constantly evolving, and with changing demands and trends, repurposing existing structures has become a popular way to optimize urban spaces. One of the most intriguing trends in recent years

  BACKGROUND: Cadence (now known as Bell South City) is one of the first projects completed under South San Francisco’s Downtown Station Area Specific Plan as part of the City’s efforts to bring new residents

  BACKGROUND: Bella Terra is an open-air dinning, shopping and entertainment center in Huntington Beach, California. As popular of a destination Bella Terra is, the inevitable is happening, an underutilized “big-box” store needs to be

BACKGROUND: 1100 Wilshire is a 37-story tower in downtown Los Angeles that sat vacant for nearly 20 years. Originally designed for office use, the triangular glass spire of 22 stories sits atop a rectangular parking

FRACTURED VS. UNIFIED BACKGROUND: At the corner of Vermont and Manchester avenues, a lot that has been left vacant and blighted since the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Uprising, will be filled with a new mixed-use

Rigid vs. Organic Background: UC Davis is engaged in the most ambitious student housing construction initiative in its history. The Orchard Park Redevelopment Project aims to support their campus’s strong sense of community, offer students

The Gold Nugget Awards recognizes those who improve our communities through exceptional concepts in design, planning and development. Now in its 58th year, GNA is the largest and most prestigious competition of its kind in

Mass Timber is not a new idea, it has been around for years. However, we are seeing an expansion of Mass Timber innovation with the advances in technology to make “engineered” products. Mjøstårnet in Norway,

The PCBC Gold Nugget awards recognize those who improve our communities through exceptional concepts in design, planning and development. We are elated that five of our projects were acknowledged as embodying these values in Architectural

TCA Architects announces new Interiors Department, led by Courtney Ward, Associate IIDA, LEED GA.   The Interiors Department is a full-service practice with deep experience in conceptual design, and all stages of construction documentation, administration

Our team recently toured One Uptown Newport located off Jamboree Road (within walking distance from our Irvine office!) in Newport Beach, California.  The 458-unit multifamily building began leasing phase one with the first residents moving

“Community – meaning for me ‘nurturing human connection’ — is our survival. We humans wither outside of community. It isn’t a luxury, a nice thing; community is essential to our well-being.” – Frances Moore Lappe It’s

TCA’s Hospitality Studio supports Fairmont-Accor and the San Jose-based owners’ ambitious plans.   Fairmont Hotel, in downtown San Jose was a hot ticket back in the late eighties when customers began arriving to dance and

On June 13th TCA hosted its 19th Annual Charity Golf tournament benefiting Habitat for Humanity – Orange County. The tournament held at Oak Creek Golf Course in Irvine generated a gross total of $113,000 for

We are proud to announce that G12 has taken home not one, but TWO prestigious awards this week. G12 received The National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) Multifamily Pillars of the Industry Grand Award and The

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

TCA’s Hospitality Studio helps re-craft the InterContinental SF to suit millennial tastes.   Hotel interiors get a make-over every five to seven years. Materials get worn, fashions change and customer expectations evolve. Over the past

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,

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

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

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

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

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,

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

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

Unisex restrooms have been a hot topic among political debates lately; and while they are not necessarily a new concept, they have been appearing in modern restaurants and hospitality environments much more as of lately.

Hotels have traditionally occupied prominent locations in cities, often anchoring and helping define a neighborhood or district. Examples include the Mark Hopkins and Fairmont hotels on San Francisco’s Nob Hill, or the Claremont, in Oakland,

Design “works” when it is focused on solving real problems that affect the client’s strategic goals and the emotional needs of the culture it serves… How does a two million square foot mixed use development

Neptune Marina, located in Marina Del Rey, California is a seaside community in the local vernacular of Mid-Century Modern. Authenticity resonates within us at a profound level and is at the heart of successful streets,