Download Chapter 6 - Community Design

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Roofs
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The roofs and rooflines of buildings should be designed to
complement and complete the building design. Distinctive,
sculpted roof forms that contribute to a visually interesting
skyline and to the overall character of the District are encouraged.
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Flat roofed buildings should incorporate a strong, attractively detailed cornice or parapet that screens rooftop equipment
and creates a distinctive silhouette.
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Roofs with vertical surfaces visible from public streets, open
spaces, and adjoining areas should use high quality roofing
materials consistent with the building’s other exterior finishes.
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All rooftop mechanical equipment, appurtenances, and stair
towers should be grouped and located so that they are not
visible from streets and other public areas, architecturally integrated into the building and clad with materials consistent
with the building’s overall design character.
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Creation of accessible terraces and open space on rooftops
is encouraged, particularly to take advantage of views of the
creekside open space.
Unique roof forms can be used to create an
interesting skyline.
Accessible rooftop terraces are encouraged to
advantage of the open space views.
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Building Materials and Colors
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Durable, high quality exterior building materials should be
used to convey the sense of quality and permanence desired
for the District, minimize maintenance concerns, and promote buildings that will last over time. Use of such materials
is especially important at the street level where they are more
visible to the public. Examples of appropriate materials include: stone, tile, terra cotta, brick, metal, and glass.
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Architectural features should be designed to be integral to the
building, and not just surface ornamentation that is artificially thin or simply tacked or painted onto the building’s surface. Artificial materials such as “Dryvit” and other applied
foam ornamentation (e.g. Exterior Insulation and Finish
Systems, “EIFS”) should not be used at street level.
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Building materials and colors should be used to unify and
provide visual interest to building exteriors, but the number
of materials and colors generally should be limited to promote a visual simplicity and harmony.
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Primary building colors should be more restrained and neutral in hue. Bright and highly saturated colors should be used
sparingly, as accents or as part of a balanced and carefully executed color scheme.
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Exterior trim and architectural detail, such as cornices and
window and door trim, should be painted a contrasting color
to distinguish them from wall surfaces. The use of subtly contrasting, but complementary colors is appropriate.
Durable building materials, such as brick, stone, and tile, should be used, particularly at ground level where they are highly visible.
Primary building colors should be more nuetral or restrained in
hue with darker or brighter colors reserved for accents.
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Windows, Doors and Other Openings
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Ground-level façades should incorporate generous windows
and street-oriented glazing that create a high degree of transparency along the street and reveal activity within shops and
restaurants and engage the interest of passersby.
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Windows on retail and commercial storefronts should generally occupy a minimum of sixty (60) percent of the street-level façade surface.
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Windows on upper floors should be smaller than street-level
windows and occupy a smaller proportion of the façade surface area, generally about 30 to 50%.
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Enclosed display window areas should be provided on streetoriented façades where actual windows cannot be provided.
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Windows should consist of discrete openings in the wall surface, rather than large, continuous walls of glass.
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Window and door frames should not be flush with exterior wall surfaces. Building openings for doors and windows
should employ deep insets that create visual relief and shadow lines on the façade, giving the building a sense of solidity and substance.
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Ground-level façades should create a high level of transparency along the street.
Tinted, reflective, or obscure glazing should not be used.
Solar shade control should be accomplished using exterior
shading devices such as awnings or sun shades.
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Street-fronting, ground-floor glazing should have a sill
height not exceeding 30 inches as measured from the adjoining sidewalk surface.
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Doors in commercial storefronts should include windows that permit visual access into the establishment.
Doors and windows should be inset from the façade to create shadows and visual interest.
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Building Lighting
Lighting should add drama and character to a building while being consistent with the building’s character.
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Building lighting should be used to add drama and character
to buildings, ensure public safety, and enhance nighttime activities within the District.
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Lighting should be designed as an integral part of the building that is consistent with its architectural character.
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Illumination of buildings should be focused on building entries, signs, and distinctive architectural features, but overly bright and indiscriminate illumination of building façades
should be avoided. Over-illumination tends to reduce the desired dramatic effect by visually flattening the building façade, in addition to wasting energy and contributing to night
sky impacts.
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Careful consideration should be given to aspects of lighting
design such as color of light, intensity of light and overall visual impact of night lighting.
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6.3.2 Residential and Residential Mixed Use
Residential and residential mixed-use buildings in the District are
intended to offer a more urban lifestyle to those who want to live
within walking distance of the Downtown Core. Like non-residential buildings in the District, residential buildings will have
an urban character and be required to be of high-quality design
that contributes to the overall character of the District. Buildings
will define and reinforce the public space of streets and maintain
a comfortable pedestrian scale. The primary distinction in the design of residential buildings will be the incorporation of details
that are more typical of residential buildings, such as, porches,
raised building entries, bay windows, roof overhangs, balconies,
and, in certain instances, front-yard setbacks. Much of the preceding direction provided by the guidelines for commercial mixeduse development also applies to residential development, and
therefore has not been repeated.
Residential buildings should have their main entrances facing the street.
Building Siting and Orientation
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Building façades should be aligned parallel with adjoining
street frontages.
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Buildings should maintain a relatively uniform setback from
the street frontage, with variation provided through the use
of front porches, entrance porticos, and other architectural
features.
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Where possible, streets should be bordered by livable space,
rather than expanses of blank wall that can reduce the vitality
and visual quality of the adjacent streetscape.
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The primary entrance to multi-unit buildings should front
onto the primary street.
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Entrances to individual ground floor units should front on
and take access from the street.
Ground-floor units should be accessed from individual street-fronting entrances.
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Building Massing and Façade Treatment
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In larger projects, unit plans and façade designs should be varied to avoid visual monotony and create recognizable identity for buildings.
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Larger residential buildings should be vertically and horizontally modulated to mitigate the apparent scale of the building. Building massing should reflect the size of individual
units or groups of units. Building façades generally should
not exceed 100 feet in length.
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Façade articulation, architectural features such as porches,
windows, bays, and balconies, and roof form modulation are
strategies that should be used to make building segments read
as individual units or groups of units.
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Active façades with windows, doors, and other architectural
features should face all streets, sidewalks and paths.
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First=floor units should have finished floor elevations approximately 2-3 feet above the grade of the public sidewalk to protect tenant privacy.
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Porches and stoops should be used to announce unit and
building entrances, and provide a transition from the public
street to the residential building/dwelling unit.
First-floor units should be raised two to three feet above sidewalk grade to protect tenant privacy.
Building massing should reflect the scale of individual units or groups of units.
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Roofs
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Roof forms should be consistent with the rest of the building in terms of architectural style, level of detailing, and quality of materials.
Variations in rooflines should be used to reduce the perceived
scale of larger buildings.
Large roof surfaces shall incorporate features such as parapets,
overhanging eaves, and variation in the slope of roof planes
to add variety.
All rooftop mechanical equipment should be screened from
public views.
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Parking podiums adjacent to public streets should be wrapped
with residential units or partially submerged to reduce visual
impact on adjoining streetscape.
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Parking strategies that reduce space requirements for parking,
such as tandem parking and parking lifts, are encouraged.
Landscaping
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Landscaping for residential buildings should reflect a finer
scale and a wider range of plant species that reflects a more
personal style.
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Low hedges and special landscape materials should be used to
define front yard spaces and/or accent the entry sequence.
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Landscape materials should be of high quality and typically
suitable for the Southern California Mediterranean climate.
Given the general lack of precipitation, native and low-wateruse plants are preferred.
Parking
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No parking should be located between the public street and
the adjacent residential façade.
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Parking should be located behind buildings away from public
view, and accessed from rear alleys whenever possible.
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Curb cuts and driveways should only be allowed to provide
access to multiple units, except along alleys (i.e., street-fronting driveways for individual units are not allowed). Whenever
feasible, curb cuts should be limited to the north-south streets,
and preferably no more than two per block (total).
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Generally, off-street parking should be located in tuck-under
garages, podiums, or above- and below-grade parking structures. New development is encouraged to take advantage of
the fill that will be required over much of the area to provide
parking below grade (either fully or partially).
Landscaping should be used to highlight important architectural and site features (e.g. building entries), soften building
contours, and mitigate building scale.
Building Equipment and Service Areas
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Mechanical equipment, trash and recycling bins, and infrastructure, such as back-flow devices, irrigation controls, meters, and electrical panels, etc., should be located in interior utility closets, screened by architectural enclosures and/or
landscaping, or located on the interior of blocks, away for
public streets, where they are out of public view.
Rear alleys should be used to access residential
parking, such as these tuck-under townhouse
garages.