San Juaquin Apartments & Precinct Improvements
Contract Amount: $135,000,000
LEED Certification: Gold Contract
Duration: January 2015 – May 2017
Gross SF: 293,380 (Residential)
Site: 15 Acres 35,000 (Dining Hall)
The San Joaquin Apartments & Portola Dining Commons are the first increment of the new student housing expansion under UCSB’s recently approved 2010 Long Range Development Plan (LRDP). As an expansion of the existing centers of learning and excellence, San Joaquin provides housing for approximately 1,000 residents with the focus being on lower division students (sophomores). The project provided 186 new apartments, with most units housing four to six students per apartment, the new Portola Dining Commons, as well as surface parking lots for support staff of the new development.
The master planned site is divided into three primary precincts; the Gateway Towers, the North Village Clusters and the Portola Dining Commons. The site’s organization provides circulation paths which offers pedestrian and bicycle access to residences and amenities. Active plazas, recreational facilities, and courtyard gardens serve as key components of the campus plan, enhancing student social life. These areas create a sense of arrival and also connect to surrounding residential neighborhoods. A system of biofiltration planters and bioswales are strategically incorporated throughout the site to capture and filter stormwater runoff draining into adjacent wetlands. The overall project has achieved various LEED Gold Certifications through USGBC.
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) has designed the Gateway Towers, which contain student housing and a convenience store serving both the university and adjacent community. Oriented east to west, the two six-story buildings are parallel to one another and define an active plaza. A freestanding pavilion with a recreation room and study lounge is located in the plaza for the shared use of the student population. Living areas open onto balconies that overlook the plaza while bedrooms are situated away from the activity. The towers feature various sustainable features, including natural ventilation, rooftop solar hot water collectors, and maximized daylight to reduce energy use.
Kevin Daley Architects (KDA) and Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects (LOHA) collaborated on a series of apartment-style housing resulting in four clusters of buildings two to four stories in height. Respecting the adjacent scale and character, the designs provide housing clusters characterized by outward-facing campus-oriented perimeters. An undulating circulation system weaves between the various residential buildings and social spaces.
Kieran Timberlake Associates LLP rounds out the projects multi-architect effort by providing the design for the new Portola Dining Commons on the Universities 15-acre North Campus master plan. The 31,000 SF facility serves the entire student population of the Santa Catalina & San Joaquin housing complex.
