The beauty of this park side location shapes the design of this romantic Mediterranean community. A neighborhood that listens to the land and architecture which grows naturally out of the site makes one love coming home.

The design of this mixed-use project began as a winning competition entry with our planning partners at GCH. The site faced onto an important intersection and was adjacent to a hillside that is preserved as open space with paths leading to a small lake nearby. On this site, the developer team wanted a mix of garden apartments, townhomes, and community retail. The goal was to create an inviting project in a parklike setting.  The site to ties into the nearby parkland and is pedestrian friendly by moving all vehicular circulation below grade and keep the ground level for landscape only.

Nearby projects are either very formal or designed in such an ordered way that they appeared more as commercial office buildings than a residential community.  Our thinking was different. We imagined buyers would be drawn to a community that had both warmth and a human scale of a character driven community.  It should to be inviting and comfortable for the residents.

Rather than a strict orthogonal grid, which is common for efficiency and solar access in this area, we planned the project as a neighborhood guided by the landforms.  Buildings are positioned is a way that follows the forms of the site. More village-like and less structured. At the same time, we were able to balance the required density and solar requirements.

Overall, this was a more affordable project.  Unlike much of our work built in natural stone, we designed primarily in stone paint, stucco, wrought iron. Stone is found in key locations to get the most value and detail is controlled and kept buildable at the budget target.

The character of the community is inspired my Mediterranean architecture with barrel tile roofs, arched windows, and decorative ironwork. There is movement in the rooflines which creates roof patios and gardens to help soften the six and seven story apartments.

After completion, the sales were brisk allowing more price appreciation between phases than expected. A successful first residential project for this new developer.