Shasta Homes, La Mesa

Shasta Homes is a suburban neighborhood located in La Mesa, California. The unique development is an addition to an aging community. It is likely the first phase of the gentrification of these multi-family, single family mixed communities gaining popularity all over America.

Housing a Working-class Demographic

Communities like these are generally a ten to thirty-minute drive off arterial freeways from major cities, mostly in urban locations. Largely constructed as a result of the rapid urbanization of cities right after World War II, industrialization was making cities less desirable. People drove their automobiles a short distance to keep the urban machine humming. Along Shasta Lane sits several large apartment communities, all built in the 50s and 60s. Within close proximity are single family homes mostly occupied by aging adults, many who have retired from their careers. The surrounding apartments are dated, but command healthy rents. They are typically for a younger, working-class demographic, and by comparison to home ownership, offer more affordable living.

The Silver Rush and Population Growth

A new trend is rapidly emerging in the historic La Mesa community. What you’re seeing is a higher end, in-fill developments, like Shasta Homes, become the next wave of residential development at least for some years to come.

The “silver rush” trend is spreading throughout real estate development in San Diego. Quite simply, the silver rush defines the growing rush of immigration to our area from other metropolitan areas.

In Search of a Healthy Lifestyle

San Diego has become synonymous with one of the country’s healthiest, outdoor lifestyle. As a result of Covid-19 and the degradation of our natural world, people are seeking a more holistic and healthy life. Places like North Park, South Park, Golden Hill, Rolando, the College area, and La Mesa have many of the amenities similar to downtown, but also offer a personal connection to nature and parks.

Shasta Homes is just a short walk to Lake Murray Shopping Center; and, it’s a short distance from the Interstate 8 freeway, the trolley and other transit hubs. Each unit is stacked like a townhome and everyone has a garage, but the density is compact. Residents have spaces to socialize, a small outdoor community area and mail delivery at a central location.

Finding the Balance Between Private and Social space with landscape

From a site/landscape perspective, our goals were simple:

Create spaces for both privacy and socialization on a small lot.
Accommodate spaces for several households.
Provide residents with a simple and elegant connection to natural elements.
Design to accommodate storm water run-off that doesn’t negatively impact neighbors.
Maintaining the soul and context of the community.

For privacy, we choose plant material that naturally grows vertically, and placed this material strategically to provide a sense of separation in key areas. By contrast, in other areas, the design encouraged socialization.

A number of key design elements enhanced the development:

We clustered mailboxes and placed a garden area close in proximity so that residents could open and read their mail.
The development also sits on the edge of a small canyon. Here we provided a social area where small groups could gather and appreciate this natural element.
We provided easy access for residents to the area, to simply unwind and appreciate the local wildlife.

To address storm water run-off, we provided several areas for storm water to drain through plant material, which has natural filtering properties. We provided permeable pavers to give water an opportunity to soak into the ground before moving off the site over hard surfaces. Another signature design element of McCullough, similar to other projects we’ve designed, was to provide a natural plant material treatment. We have found that in small confined urban in-fill developments like this, sometimes the simplest, most important thing we as landscape architects can provide works well to the overall health and wellness of the residents.

A beautiful, simple connection to a landscape that replicates nature in its fullest

From a site/landscape perspective our goals were met at Shasta Homes. As this area of La Mesa gentrifies, and becomes home to the next generation, we feel we have helped contribute towards something special here.

Client of the Month:
De Bartolo and Rimanic Design Studio

This month we introduce De Bartolo and Rimanic Design Studio as our October Client of The Month. De Bartolo and Rimanic Design Studio (also known as DRBDS) is an Australian born, San Diego-based design firm, which specializes in modern design projects that incorporate dynamic and intelligent concepts to inspire the way we live and connect.

The company was founded by Pauly De Bartolo and Ivan Rimanic, who first met in 2005 after they both relocated to San Diego from Sydney. An Australian architecture and development company invited Pauly and Ivan to the United States to help start an international office. However, the 2008 recession caused the company to close up and head back to Australia. Pauly and Ivan decided they had different plans, and instead created De Bartolo and Rimanic Design Studio.

Blending regulations with creative solutions

De Bartolo and Rimanic Design Studio’s socially impactful, sustainable, and contextually sensitive solutions are what sets them apart from their competition. The firm is comprised of leading professionals who take great pride in their knowledge of community regulations to find creative solutions for their clients to maximize their investment.

Additionally, De Bartolo and Rimanic Design Studio’s active approach to engage ideas from clients and consultants, ensures that each design embodies the firm’s core values and aspirations as a design practice.

Today, De Bartolo and Rimanic Design Studio focuses on single-family, multi-family, high-rise, hotel and master planning with a variety of projects throughout California, Arizona and Texas.

Prominent projects include:

The Point Apartments
Greystone Row Homes
1400 Park One
The Mill at Broadway
Indiana Street Row Homes

“These two gentlemen truly care about the built environment…and are incredibly creative and professional”

We at McCullough have had the pleasure of working with De Bartolo and Rimanic Design Studio’s on numerous projects over the years. “I’ve known both Pauly and Ivan from the days we worked together when they first arrived from Sydney,” says David McCullough. “We had been working on hotels and residential towers for both San Diego and National City. Since then, we have worked together on projects around the world. These two gentlemen truly care about the built environment in a meaningful way and are incredibly creative and professional. Above all, over the years we have become very close friends. In many ways, I feel like we have grown up together in the industry and the projects we have worked on together are those that I am personally most proud of today.”

A large mixed-use development in Linda Vista

Our most recent project with De Bartolo and Rimanic Design Studio is Linda Vista Apartments, a proposed five-story mixed-use development in the Linda Vista community that boasts nearly 50,000 square feet for residential dwelling units.

Three of those units are dedicated to very low income (VLI), in addition to a hotel SRO component, and a retail space. The central area of the space consists of a large communal courtyard area surrounded by lush landscape, providing a unique shared amenity space.

Some of these amenities include an outdoor space for grilling and dining, a setting for neighbors to socialize and enjoy a sense of community. A large stairwell creates outdoor amphitheater-style seating which is perfect for holding larger events.

We look forward to working with De Bartolo and Rimanic Design Studio in the years to come and sharing the completion of Linda Vista Apartments. To learn more about De Bartolo and Rimanic Design Studio, visit their Instagram @dbrds.

Nicole Hensch
Marketing and Administrative Assistant

Innovative Architectural Features That Improve a Public Space

By Skylar Ross, Contributor, Innovative Building Materials

If you own a building in the heart of a bustling city, you know just how valuable the public space around it is. Sidewalks and other public areas contribute a lot to the buildings they are near, and never has this been more true than right now. The pandemic has changed a lot about how we view these public spaces near our buildings, prompting many to innovate and improve them as these areas have taken on new responsibilities during Covid-19. With the restrictions on indoor gatherings and activities, as well as the weakness of Covid-19 to sunlight and fresh air, public spaces are now being optimized to help us combat Covid while returning to a semi-normal state of living.

In case you’re interested in optimizing a public space with architectural features, let’s take a look at a few popular choices right now that many building owners are turning to.

Pergolas

When it comes to outdoor relaxing, dining, or entertainment, pergolas are a top choice. Featuring a roof of some sort and no walls or attachments to nearby buildings, a pergola provides the perfect spot to dine or lounge in fresh air.

Social distancing is made easy in a Pergola, and the occupants of yours can enjoy feeling connected to the public space around them without being dangerously close. There are a ton of unique pergola design ideas to fit your needs, no matter what kind of building or business you own.

Exterior Building Grilles

Architectural grilles work to filter pollutants from the surrounding air and reduce noise pollution while adding an element of style. For those of you with a public space nearby, the benefits of installing architectural grilles on your building are numerous.

In addition to improving the look of your space, these grilles can also help hide bulky mechanical equipment and reduce air pollution in a public space.

Copper/Bronze Surfaces

You may not have known this, but copper, bronze, and brass are all antimicrobial. They can kill a variety of different harmful microbes in less than two hours, and are very efficient at doing so. One way to improve your public space with architectural features is by implementing copper surfaces as often as possible.

Copper can look great when paired with certain materials or colors, and the antimicrobial properties are just too valuable to pass up if you’re looking to make a public space as safe as possible during this pandemic.

Protect Your Public Space with These Innovative Architectural Features

The earnestness of people to get back to normal combined with the fact that Covid-19 does not survive very well outdoors means that public spaces have grown immensely in their importance to us.

By installing architectural grilles, pergolas, and copper surfaces on and near your building, you can optimize your public space and keep it as clean as possible. Providing a safe public place to enjoy socially-distanced interaction is easy as long as you implement innovative architectural features such as these.

Skylar Ross is a contributor to Innovative Building Materials. He is a blogger and content writer for the architecture industry. Skylar is focused on helping architects and building designers discover new techniques, find ways to save on costs and discover new modern innovative materials to use in their next project.

CREW San Diego Features David McCullough as Panelist in Upcoming Event on COVID and Design

Join David and other experts for an in-depth discussion sponsored by CREW San Diego on October 29. They will focus on the impacts of COVID-19 on design, outdoor use and perceptions of public spaces. As experts in urban, landscape, and architectural design, they will discuss:

The hypothetical predictions on our relationship with public space
Updates on government ordinances and restrictions
Flex space and modular designs of large gathering space
Transformation of public space design and accessibility

Panelists include:

Howard Blackson, Urban Design & Planning Director, AVRP Skyport
Chris Bittner, Principal, OBR Architecture
David McCullough, Principal, McCullough Landscape Architecture, Inc.
Alyssa Muto, Deputy Director, Environmental Policy and Public Spaces

Moderator: Penny Maus, Department Manager, Port of San Diego

Location

Virtual Program: Zoom link will be sent in a follow-up email

Date and Time

Thursday, October 29, 2020

11:45 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Networking in Break Out Rooms

12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Panel Discussion

Fee

CREW Members are FREE; Non-members: $25; Students: FREE

Registration closes October 28, 2020 > Register here.

The Next Housing Wave Builds in La Mesa