The 2018 Gold Nugget Winners: High Art in Architecture, Design and Land Use

One of the things I like best about the building industry is the enormous creativity involved in every stage of the process, especially for decisions made about architecture, design and land use.  This was certainly true again for this year’s Gold Nugget winners at PCBC, ranging from rehabs which are both practical and inspiring, to master plans which seemed to effortlessly take the pulse of today’s culture while still making them relevant to future residents. Following are some profiles of winners in key categories.

There were actually two winners for Best Masterplan Community, divided among urban and suburban locations.  In Honolulu, Ward Village by Howard Hughes Corp. re-imagined a 60-acre parcel once known for heavy industry and commercial fishing into the largest certified LEED-ND Platinum (Neighborhood Development) project of its kind in the U.S.

In between the downtown area and the 30-acre Kewalo Harbor, 4,500 residential units, over one million square feet of retail space, a central plaza and rail station will emerge.  Best of all, by including scores of existing businesses in this redevelopment, Ward Village demonstrated clear respect for the local culture and history.

Yet it was Rancho Mission Viejo’s Esencia in Southern California which took multiple awards for not just Best Masterplan, but also Best Community Land Plan and Best Recreational Use Facility.  The true challenge here was how to best respect the terrain and ranching history of this 890-acre plan while still being able to develop nearly 2,750 homes, 60 acres of retail space and over 16 ranch-themed gathering places, clubhouses and Nature Center.

But the true selling point for Escenia was its integration into the 17,000 acres of an open space preserve, which will eventually become part of the 33,000-acre Southern Subregion Habitat Reserve, one of California’s largest.  The land plan itself was noted for retaining ranch elements including a yurt campground, oak groves, hillside trails and farming, all of which are intended to inspire future generations to respect the land.

In nearby Newport Coast, The New Home Company took top honors for Best Residential Detached Collection with Coral Canyon, an exclusive enclave of 27 homes offering canyon views with a resort feel.  Reportedly inspired by the easy pace of life on the Spanish island Ibiza, judges cited the way in which each home effortlessly blended into the next, creating a cohesive and memorable street scene characterized by neutral colors, bright interiors and flat roofs on all single-story elements.

For an individual, single-family home, it was Plan 9502 at Camelot Homes’ White Horse in Scottsdale, AZ which was named Home of the Year.  In this case, judges cited the way in which this plan updates the classic hacienda footprint into a modern feel, with numerous indoor-outdoor spaces to take advantage of the local climate.

Yet by orienting each of the 50 homes towards its center, the compounds created on these half-acre lots helped to mitigate noise from an adjacent six-lane highway.  The end result was a traditional-looking home outside that was more white-washed farmhouse inside, ultimately creating an unusually unique plan which judges noted “would set a future precedent for the evolution of production housing.”

Clever designs also abounded in the multi-family space, with Trumark Urban’s The Pacific winning Best Multi-Family Community due to what judges said was “transforming what was a detractor and neighborhood eyesore to an exemplary display of positive change.”  What Trumark was able to do was transform a mid-rise, 1960s-style school of dentistry in the middle of the upscale, built-out community of Pacific Heights in San Francisco into 76, LEED Gold-certified luxury condos and townhomes.

They did this by breaking up the previous, Brutalist exterior with a modern take on the classic bay window, repurposing a mechanical building on the roof into four penthouses with terraces, and masking the adjacent parking structure with ten, three-story townhomes. This lower elevation helped better tie the entire project into the lower-density neighborhood, while also improving the overall streetscape.

Finally, it was The Camden’s combination of 287 upscale apartments, a 40,000-square-foot Equinox health club and multiple gathering spaces to maximize socializing which earned this project by Camden Development top honors for Best Mixed-Use Project. 

Built on the site of Paramount Pictures’ first production building in the heart of Hollywood, CA, The Camden not only captures this entertainment-oriented history on a public art wall at the base of each tower, but intentionally markets its units to the young and local ‘industry’ types as not just a home, but also a very convenient place to network.

August column for Builder & Developer magazine now online

My column for the August issue of Builder & Developer magazine is now posted online.

For this issue, entitled "The 2012 Gold Nuggets: Where Design Meets Green Building," I reviewed some the Grand Award winners in various categories at the 2012 Gold Nugget Awards in San Francisco.

An excerpt:


In today’s competitive business environment, product design for consumer technology, cars and Web sites has taken center stage, and it is now increasingly felt in updated designs for a variety of building projects whether they’re intended for single-family homes, multi-family projects, mixed-use projects or even the growing demand for multi-generational homes...

With new home projects such as these capturing the interest of buyers or renters and winning the plaudits of their peers in the building industry, I think it can be said that practical and efficient need not equal boring.  Best of all, these designs will provide a compelling alternative to older, more staid homes which, relatively speaking, hog both water and energy.

To read the entire column, click here.

To read the entire August 2012 issue in digital format, click here.

The 2012 Gold Nugget Awards: Design Meets Green Building

It’s certainly interesting to see that the Home of the Year at the recent 2012 Gold Nugget Awards in San Francisco, entitled “Modern Farmhouse,” seemed to effortlessly combine the style of a classic farmhouse with today’s demand for flexible living and multi-generational households.  Although built as a semi-custom home to be auctioned off for St. Jude’s Cancer Center, the Castle Rock, CO home by Woodley Architects has been so well-received that similar designs are currently underway.

But this award-winning home is far from an exception.  In today’s competitive business environment, product design for consumer technology, cars and Web sites has taken center stage, and it is now increasingly felt in updated designs for a variety of building projects whether they’re intended for single-family homes, multi-family projects, mixed-use projects or even the growing demand for multi-generational homes.

For example, Garbett Homes’ Solaris project in South Jordan, UT, nabbed the Grand Award for Residential Project of the Year – Detached Product due to a combination of bright colors and modern lines wrapped around energy-efficient techniques that mean utility bills as low as $5 per month.  In a state of annual climate changes such as Utah, that’s certainly impressive, and is made possible by solar or geothermal heating and cooling as a standard feature.  Consequently, these homes redefine the single-family home in ways that are both practical and aesthetic.

In Huntington Beach, CA, Christopher Homes tapped MSA Architects to create an attached project that varied its facades enough to emulate a high-density detached development.  By combining useful outdoor spaces, spacious common rooms and high-functioning kitchens, The Villas at Pacific Shores -- Grand Award winner for Attached Product within a suburban Setting – thus provides a luxury, attached home alternative in this coastal community of Orange County.

For the winner of the Attached Product in an Urban setting, judges decided upon the Drs. Julian and Raye Richardson Apartments, which offer short-term housing for homeless persons in transition.  Built in a part of downtown San Francisco damaged by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the unique exterior selected by architects David Baker + Partners has reportedly helped to re-energize a streetscape long dominated by much older buildings. In addition, a combination of gathering rooms, an on-site bakery providing job training and a green roof where residents can grow their own food helps to establish the project as much more than just a simple building.

In Irvine, CA, The New Home Company hired Robert Hidey Architects for The Hill at Lambert Ranch and won the top prize for detached housing in the newly created category of Multi-Generational Concepts.  By cleverly using landscaping and window placement, Residence One & Two provide privacy for individual family members while still allowing for a large, common space named, of course, the family compound.

But it was in San Francisco where developer Bridge Housing, working with David Baker + Partners, built Amstrong Place Senior and Family Housing, in the process winning the Grand Award for best attached Multi-Generational Concept.  Combining affordable flats for seniors with townhomes for growing families, the design’s primary focus was to eliminate any potential feelings of isolation for its older residents while still remaining interesting to younger ones.  That was achieved by plenty of landscaped public space and a patchwork of playful colors and patterns on the exterior to make it a neighborhood stand-out.

Finally, Meritage Homes’s Ragle Ranch in Santa Rosa, CA won the Grand Award for continuing to raise the bar for green homes among production homes.  With the latest construction techniques, these Meritage Homes are reportedly 39% more efficient than the already-high standards required by California.  Advanced ventilation design and low-emitting products throughout the house help to maintain indoor air quality, while both plumbing fixtures and outdoor landscaping are engineered for minimal water use.  Best of all, since their work was verified by third parties such as EnergyStar and GreenPoint Rated, customers get separate proof of a green home.

With new home projects such as these capturing the interest of buyers or renters and winning the plaudits of their peers in the building industry, I think it can be said that practical and efficient need not equal boring.  Best of all, these designs will provide a compelling alternative to older, more staid homes which, relatively speaking, hog both water and energy.

July column for Builder & Developer magazine now online

My monthly column for the July issue of Builder & Developer magazine is now online. In this article, entitled "Gold Nugget Winners Evolve," I discuss how the demand for smaller and more energy-efficient homes has returned some builders to their roots as artisans and not just providers of commodities. You can read the entire article by clicking here.

An excerpt:

For months we’ve been reading and hearing about how builders have been downsizing both the size and specification levels of the homes they build to cater to today’s more frugal buyers. In the first stage of that transformation, it was a practical move, and often catered more to function than form.

But now that industry architects and building pros have become more comfortable with homes that are smaller yet also more affordable, urban-oriented yet energy efficient, these second-stage homes are showing the type of creativity that win awards.

At the 2010 Gold Nugget Awards this past June, however, the winners demonstrated that only the right combination of form and function will ultimately win the accolades of the most important judges – the buyers...

Gold Nugget Winners Continue to Evolve

For months we’ve been reading and hearing about how builders have been downsizing both the size and specification levels of the homes they build to cater to today’s more frugal buyers. In the first stage of that transformation, it was a practical move, and often catered more to function than form.

But now that industry architects and building pros have become more comfortable with homes that are smaller yet also more affordable, urban-oriented yet energy efficient, these second-stage homes are showing the type of creativity that win awards.

At the 2010 Gold Nugget Awards this past June, however, the winners demonstrated that only the right combination of form and function will ultimately win the accolades of the most important judges – the buyers. See the list of winners here.

In the case of 1Mission in San Diego, developer CLB Partners chose to restore a somewhat faded city block more to its 1920s glory at the street level while copying architectural cues from surrounding buildings for the upper floors. Set at the junction of the very walk-able neighborhoods of Hillcrest and north Mission Hills, the mixed-use retail and residential project combines front-facing townhomes along with flats attached to large balconies.

To tie it together, architect M.W. Steele Group introduced a public paseo and courtyard that help the two restaurants better capture potential customers. Like a much smaller version of the award-winning Uptown District project nearby that was built in the early 1990s, 1Mission proves that mixed-use projects can work even in a recession, but only if created with the right combination of location and execution.

In the City of Westminster in Southern California, Bridgecreek Development also made safe connectivity to the local community a priority when developing Morian Asian Gardens, an age-restricted condominium project in the Vietnamese-dominated Little Saigon. By blending feng shui design models with a French-inspired aesthetic, architect Danielian Associates wanted to evoke a classic Vietnam environment while also providing the more practical and social aspects of two clubhouses that bring in the best of the local climate via adjacent courtyards.

For energy efficiency, it’s harder to get greener than Los Vecinos in Chula Vista south of San Diego, which was named Green Sustainable Community of the Year. Earning the coveted LEED Platinum status and built on the site of an abandoned model (of which 84% of materials were re-purposed for the new building), this affordable Wakeland Housing & Development rental project also requires residents to complete a green training course. Given the combination of its solar array which provides 90% of its electrical needs, a turf area requiring no water and most services located within a half-mile walk, it’s certainly no surprise that Los Vecinos was accepted into the Zero Energy New Home (ZENH) program of the California Energy Commission for ongoing education purposes.

And yet for sheer creativity, Nelson Development’s Arden Estates in the West Portal neighborhood of San Francisco proves that urban infill doesn’t necessarily mean high density. After carving out seven 4,000-square-foot lots from a single undeveloped 28,000-square-foot parcel, each 3,200-square-foot home promises luxury finishes with high ceilings, generous setbacks, gardens and views, and also claims one of the highest green building ratings offered by the city.

Awarded Green Point Rated Community of the Year, the considerable architectural challenge was to blend in with both the surrounding homes as well as a the site’s keynote: Arden Wood, a Normandy-style chateau built in 1930 that has since been operating as a multi-purpose Christian Science center for spiritual healing, nursing services and education.

Yet by remaining sensitive to the neighborhood’s history and not building to maximum density, it’s projects like this that remind buyers that many builders are also artisans.

New home architecture as a competitive edge

With steeply discounted foreclosures taking a huge bite out of the potential demand for new homes over the past couple of years, the nation’s home builders initially reacted with a combination of incentives and price cuts to stay competitive. Yet as the recession has worn on, the building industry has managed to find another trump card up its sleeve that will stay with us even as the economy rebounds: compelling architecture. Ranging from the practical and sustainable to the purely aesthetic, new home design is here to stay as a primary means for builders to stay competitive.

At the most recent Gold Nugget Awards in San Francisco, the one common element among the award-winning projects was not only offering attractive exteriors and an efficient use of space, but also incorporating designs into the scale and look of the surrounding area.

For example, Barry Berkus’ Yarnolani Court won Project of the Year for what is in fact a small, five-unit infill project in Santa Barbara not just due to its LEED Platinum certification and its unique way of combining interior and exterior spaces, but also due to its attention to detail. While remaining true to the city’s Spanish architectural traditions, Yarnolani Court offers a slimmed-down scale to accommodate less than 2,000 square feet of living space while still paying attention to details such as cantilevered wooden alcoves, wrought iron railings and arched windows and doors.

In areas throughout the Sun Belt, smaller interior square footages can be balanced by a more artistic approach to bringing in the outside. That’s how a project such as Shapell’s Grand Award for its Belmaison in San Jose can be recognized for its use of double courtyards that allow natural light and passive ventilation to maximize the impact of what nature has to offer on a very narrow lot.

For a high-density urban development, paying attention to the scale of the surrounding neighborhood is critical. In the case of Grand Award-winner The Renaissance by Signature Properties in the City of Concord (a suburb of the Bay Area), connections to the immediate area – including transit stops – are enabled by a scale friendly to pedestrians and enhanced by exterior articulations that underscore the high quality of materials used. The result is a project that won’t seem trendy five years from now and has become an integral part in the city’s revitalization plans.

Even for an infill project in an existing suburban area, sensitivity to local history and architectural norms is critical. When SummerHill Homes built Lane Woods in Menlo Park -- once known as a weekend getaway for residents of San Francisco and San Jose – the builder preserved 96 existing trees, oriented lots around a central park, and offered up traditional wood siding, large porches and balconies. Suddenly a project with just 32 homes could lay claim to its own version of an ‘old growth’ neighborhood while still providing the environmental and technological benefits of new construction.

As builders – and their buyers – continue to embrace the advantages of green building, even small changes can make a difference. For example, porous pavers can assist water run-off during storms while re-charging underground aquifers, roof-integrated solar panels can help reduce power bills while minimizing the aesthetic impact to the exterior look, and specially treated paint applied to just about any surface can act as an insulator capable of cutting energy use by 20% to 40%.

On a national scale, the days of the ever-present stucco home may even be numbered. According to a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive, 59% of homeowners with a preference for siding would choose brick, followed distantly by vinyl with 37%, stucco with 19%, fiber cement/composite with 14% and ‘other,’ with 11%. It looks like more sophisticated and traditional exteriors – those which win awards -- are here to stay.