TCA Architects

JIA APARTMENTS

TCA Architect - Sep 14, 2023

Meaning “home,” JIA is an urban six story mixed-use project with 280 apartment units and 20,000 square feet of ground level retail on the North-West corner of Broadway and Cesar Chavez. The location of the project is at the main entry into Los Angeles’ Chinatown, adjacent to the Twin Dragons Tower Gateway. The project is designed in order to respect and respond to the Twin Dragons Tower Gateway with a large public courtyard on the street corner for residents and the local community. The façade along Broadway has neighborhood serving retail along the entire ground level with articulated units above to create smaller scale elements along the street edge. The urban nature of the project reflects the future of residential and mixed use design in the Los Angeles area, with the close integration of public and private uses. The contemporary architectural reflects a forward thinking approach to the revitalization of Chinatown and elements of color with strong forms were used to make a statement at the gateway to Chinatown.

VIO

TCA Architect - Sep 07, 2023

VIO is a mixed-use project within the Village Oaks master plan of the Hitachi General Development Plan, located in San Jose, California. The HighDEF project consists of 234 residential apartment units and approximately 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, distributed in two 4-story Type V buildings. Leasing center, recreation, and fitness facilities are featured in a separate 3-story building, adjacent to a pool courtyard. The project incorporates sustainability measures to achieve a LEED Silver rating. In accordance with the City’s vision of a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood, the architecture breaks down the perceived mass of the buildings by creating an overall rhythm to enhance the human scale, as activated by stoop entries and material articulation at the ground plane. Although the rhythm creates a certain regularity and order, the varied palettes of color in the architecture serve to create differentiation within the system, to essentially enhance the individual scale. Creative stacking solutions were required to enhance the semblance of more verticality in reference the traditional rowhouse typology as requested by the city.

TERRENA

TCA Architect - Sep 06, 2023

Located in Northridge, Terrena is the result of reclamation of a derelict retail site located along two major arterials in the San Fernando Valley. The mixed-use community is designed to ignite a previously underutilized block and provide 403 market-rate apartments with restaurant and retail space at the ground floor. Parking is in a “wrap” configuration and provides 726 parking stalls for residents and guests. The design of the overall community features edible landscaping including on site community fruit trees; various vegetable gardens and potted herbs. The property also features a salt water infused pool, spa area and outdoor movie theater. There are multiple outdoor fireplaces with seating areas; barbeques with tables to enjoy meals with friends; and an indoor/outdoor club house that features a demonstration kitchen, billiards and ping pong tables. Other indoor amenities include: a business center with Apple touch screen computers; a conference center for meetings, a sizable athletic center with state of the art fitness equipment; a pet spa to groom pets.

201 MARSHALL

TCA Architect - Aug 28, 2023

201 Marshall is an infill project within the Redwood City Downtown Precise Plan boundary and is situated adjacent to the most significant transit node in the city. A tower element anchors the corner of intersecting streets, marking the corner and creating a vertical, iconic marker that is visible from the adjacent transit station. Fundamental to the design is the connection to public transit, and locating the project’s “front door” directly on the main corner at the base of the tower element. With a double-height lobby space and main entry, a direct connection is made to the nearby transit center. The base element of the project relates to the pedestrian scale of the buildings across Marshall Street, and awnings and storefront help to reduce the scale along the street frontages.

REATA

TCA Architect - Aug 15, 2023

Located in Laguna Hills, Reata is designed in a “Spanish Revival” style, taking influence from Southern California’s historical architecture. The project is the centerpiece of the city’s Urban Village Specific Plan and fundamental to the design is the connection of pedestrian access to the neighboring Oakbrook Village Shopping Center. The project includes a 10,000 square-foot space called the Village Green; aiming to provide a vibrant, pedestrian-oriented atmosphere. The retail awnings and storefronts along the ground level are designed to help reduce the scale of the building along the pedestrian frontages, while allowing for views into public areas of the building. The tower elements anchor key corners and cantilevered balconies provide relief and texture, working to further break down the scale of the massing. The project has 289 dwelling units consisting of 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom units; each featuring private balconies and decks looking outward over the densely landscaped site or over one of the four courtyards.

Westminster Mall

tcaeditor - Jul 10, 2023

The Westminster Mall has long been a point of contention and visual blight within the community. Its partial vacancy and struggles with retail and dining establishments have been ongoing issues for years. Over the past decade, TCA has been actively exploring various redevelopment options for parts or the entirety of the mall, engaging with multiple developers to reimagine its future. Proposed ideas have ranged from smaller-scale projects surrounding the mall to complete overhauls of the expansive 147-acre property. TCA brings significant expertise to the table, particularly in navigating the complexities inherent in redeveloping mall locations. These complexities include dealing with multiple property owners, preserving essential loop roads for structural servicing, and addressing challenging grading conditions surrounding the mall.

Recent studies for the Westminster Mall have considered two distinct scenarios. Scenario one focuses on preserving the core structure of the mall while introducing residential components and complementary retail offerings to create a vibrant, adaptable community. Scenario two explores a more radical transformation, envisioning a mix of high-density rental and for-sale properties, along with lifestyle retail establishments strategically positioned to both serve the community and attract passing traffic to the site. Notably, Kaiser has expressed interest in the property due to its proximity to lifestyle retail options and its immediate adjacency to existing retail spaces.

TCA’s master planning approach involves a thorough investigative process to identify all potential factors that could influence the design. These factors, while not prescriptive in dictating the master plan’s final design, provide invaluable direction and ensure that the client is well-informed throughout the planning process.

BURBANK TOWN CENTER

TCA Architect - Jul 05, 2023

Burbank Town Center is a 27.5 acre mixed-use TOD, and urban-infill development located in the heart of downtown Burbank, adjacent to the 5 freeway and within walking distance of the Metro Link. The entire master plan proposes 1,025 new market-rate apartment units, 56 condominiums, a 200 key limited service hotel and 45,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space oriented around a community plaza. The master plan also proposes a renovation and remodel to the existing Burbank Town Center Mall.

1335 GRAND

tcaeditor - Jul 01, 2023

1335 Grand Avenue is a 28-story luxury apartment tower along Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. The high-rise will contain 297 residential apartments, 6,200 SF of retail, 16,000 SF of amenities and will be topped by an expansive sky deck overlooking the downtown skyline. Five levels of above grade parking wrap around the tower and support an open-air pool deck that is located six stories above the surrounding streets. This 1.25 acre site is in the emerging South Park district of downtown Los Angeles.

WILSHIRE LA BREA

TCA Architect - Jun 05, 2023

Bounded by busy streets, Wilshire La Brea is the corner to bus stops in both directions and it will be adjacent to a future subway stop. It is bordered by smaller scale residential properties on two sides and book-ended by historic Los Angeles structures. To respond to the rich context of the site and the opportunity to create a truly urban transit-oriented community, the sidewalk will be widened along Wilshire Boulevard providing space for exterior dining and ample pedestrian passing. The southern tower has six levels of residences and the northern tower has thirteen. Both towers are arranged in a “wing” configuration, which creates building “fingers” that surround open-ended courtyards. The courtyards open to the east taking advantage of city skyline views and providing a more articulated building face to the adjacent residential neighborhood. The fingers also “step” down toward the east, dropping several stories from the high point to present a more modestly scaled façade facing the adjacent residential neighborhood. Wilshire La Brea is a LEED Silver-certified project.

5550 WILSHIRE

TCA Architect - Jun 03, 2023

5550 Wilshire transformed an under-utilized city block in Los Angeles while reinforcing the historic character of the neighborhood. Art Deco/Moderne exterior design details connect the building to its surroundings while thoroughly modern units and amenities offer residents a vibrant contemporary lifestyle. Some unusual constraints or opportunities that the project presented, for example: Mixed-use activity retail along Wilshire required separate parking and entry sequences into the building. Design imagery that acknowledges historic district while still being a contemporary building. Variety of unit designs to capture the site’s potential, especially articulating the corners on Wilshire. Switching to townhome plans for the upper two floors allowed for a stepped configuration characteristic of Art Deco façade with overall horizontal massing articulated with vertical modules.