Direct Relief Honored with Merit Award at the SOCAL ASLA Quality of Life Awards

We are honored to announce that our Direct Relief Headquarters project has been recognized by the Southern California Chapter of the ASLA with a Merit Award in the General Design category at the 2021 Quality of Life Awards!  This year’s theme, “growing importance of the outdoors” celebrates outdoor space as a crucial part of our existence.

A collaboration with DMHA, the design of this new campus brought forward the concept of healing as a reference to our client’s mission as well as the ecological context of the site.

Led by Nicole Horn, this project has been recognized by multiple architectural, engineering and green building organizations for it’s exemplary design.  Congratulations Nicole!


WLAM 2021 | Ecological Wellness

April is World Landscape Architecture Month, and CJM::LA is celebrating by highlighting a few recent projects that demonstrate our focus on wellness.  As the third in a three-part post, this week we’re highlighting recent projects that promote ecological wellness.

Two projects that demonstrate our focus on ECOLOGICAL WELLNESS include: the restoration of Alamo Pintado Creek as part of our Mattei’s Tavern project (currently in construction) and various seating and display features for the Ventura Botanic Gardens. The Ventura Botanic Gardens is a non-profit established in 2005 with a mission to “create and maintain public gardens for the preservation, education, cultural contribution & enhancement of the entire community.” The 100+ acre garden will exhibit and conserve plants from Earth’s five Mediterranean climate zones, which are all adapted to our local coastal region. The gardens use recycled water for irrigation and provide habitat for native animals, insects and birds.

Alamo Pintado Creek is a riparian corridor immediately west of the new Inn at Mattei’s Tavern. Our design team, along with True Nature and Watershed Environmental, developed a planting and irrigation plan to restore 5,000 s.f. of riparian woodland with indigenous species from local seed stock. Additionally, we’re planting over 25,000 s.f. of native shrubs and 50+ native trees within 50′ of the creek bank. The restoration area also includes a multi-modal public trail (for bikes, pedestrians and horses) and stormwater biofiltration basin.


WLAM 2021 | Physical Wellness

April is World Landscape Architecture Month, and CJM::LA is celebrating by highlighting a few recent projects that demonstrate our focus on wellness.  As the second in a three-part post, this week we’re highlighting recent projects that promote physical wellness.

Two projects that demonstrate our focus on PHYSICAL WELLNESS include: the Ocean Meadows residences, a collaboration with DesignARC (currently in the permit process); and the renovation of Cabrillo Ball Park (completed in 2018). Both designs include outdoor recreation amenities for individual and group activities. Upon completion, Ocean Meadows will provide pedestrian and bike trail connections to the North Campus Open Space, a restored and preserved coastal open space for public access and passive recreation. It will also feature natural play areas for children and a shared residential street. Cabrillo Ball Park was an existing public ball field to which CJM::LA, together with the City of Santa Barbara Parks & Recreation Department, added a circuit walking trail with exercise equipment, better lighting and biofiltration plantings to provide a sense of enclosure while maintaining important sight lines for public safety.


WLAM 2021 | Social Wellness

April is World Landscape Architecture Month, and CJM::LA is celebrating by highlighting a few recent projects that demonstrate our focus on wellness.

This year, our team has been getting outdoors and into nature, finding time to meditate and focusing on our individual health and well-being.  This inward focus has inspired us to define “wellness” within the practice of landscape architecture.  Wellness generally refers to the intentional pursuit of optimal health, which can be broken down into different categories: mental wellness, physical wellness, spiritual wellness, social wellness, financial wellness, etc.

At CJM::LA, we believe landscape architecture can enhance our cities and communities through the intentional pursuit of wellness:

Social wellness | We design community spaces for positive social interaction.
Physical wellness | We build safe environments for physical activity.
Ecological wellness | We conserve and restore ecological resources.

 

In a three-part post, we’ll highlight recent projects that promote social, physical and ecological wellness.

Two projects that demonstrate our focus on SOCIAL WELLNESS include: the Louise Lowry Davis Center renovation, a collaboration with Bildsten Architecture and Planning (currently under construction); and the Unity of Santa Barbara courtyard renovation, which was completed in 2020.  Both of these designs include beautiful expanded outdoor courtyards – the perfect locations for both community and private events.


Central Coast Green Building Council 2020 Green New Construction Award

We are thrilled to announce the Direct Relief Headquarters has been awarded a U.S. Green Building Council 2020 Green Award by the Central Coast Green Building Council. Thank you to DMHA , our incredible client and the entire project team.

The Central Coast Green Building Council Green Awards recognizes outstanding sustainable building achievements and community members within the tri-county region.

The Green Awards highlight innovative design, construction, products, businesses, schools, governments and educational programs.

Check out this video of our project by DMHA highlighting the project team’s collaborative successes in designing a sustainable, efficient, beautiful and thoughtful site for the Direct Relief headquarters, offices and distribution center.


WLAM | World Landscape Architecture Month

April is World Landscape Architecture Month (WLAM), a worldwide celebration of the impact this profession has on our daily lives.

As a part of our ongoing stewardship of the profession, this month we’re showcasing landscape architecture to the world and inviting the public to learn about what we do!  People hold profound connections to the spaces where they live, work and play.  This year we are celebrating the relationship between us and our environment.  We look forward to demonstrating the impact that thoughtful design solutions have on our collective quality of life.  Each week we’ll be posting something new, stay tuned!

 

 

We encourage you to join us in celebrating the landscape architectural profession by posting pictures from your neighborhood that highlight landscape architectural design with the hashtags #WLAM2020 and #LifeGrowsHere.
Be sure to tag @NationalASLA

 

TO LEARN MORE

Find out more about Landscape Architecture educational opportunities here.

Are you a K-12 educator interested in sharing landscape architecture with your students?
Learn more about Landscape Architecture education for teachers here

Are you hosting a virtual story time for your child?  Check this out:
Green Trees and Sam by Shannon Gapp, ASLA/Bolton & Menk.


San Francisco Roof Garden

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2175 Market Street
April 28, 2016
Landezine

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Image courtesy of Patrik Argast

A LEED platinum project, this 88 unit apartment complex in San Francisco is sure to be the envy of its neighbors. Built to accommodate the influx of young tech workers and families moving into the urban core, the design maximizes outdoor entertaining spaces with terraces and a roof deck with eye catching color and form.

Click here to read more about this project.


Over 1,000 perforated aluminium shingles for Texas park sculpture

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Marc Fornes uses over 1,000 perforated aluminium shingles for Texas park sculpture
April 26, 2016
Dezeen

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Image courtesy of Dezeen

The French and American studio of Marc Fornes has created its first permanent installation in the United States. Located at the gateway of a century old park in San Antonio, the sculpture is made up of 1,009 perforated aluminum shingles fastened together by 19,429 rivets. The digitally designed installation serves as a prime example of exploratory structural design to create iconic public spaces.

Click here to read more about this cutting edge design.


An Industrial relic turned into a creative campus

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Urban Outfitters HQ
March 10, 2016
Landezine

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image courtesy of D.I.R.T. Studio

The new corporate campus for the retailer Urban Outfitters transformed a decommissioned naval yard in Philadelphia into a new space for the city with artistic vengeance and ecological vigor. Maintaining the integrity of the original site, the design uses existing industrial elements to dictate the forms of the design. Suddenly former rail lines carrying cargo carry to and from ships now carries employees from their office to a cup of coffee.

Click here to read more about this poster child for industrial redevelopment.


ASLA | Wine Tasting

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The Southern California Chapter of ASLA is hosting a wine tasting event on Saturday, March 21, 2015.  The tour will run through San Luis Obispo’s beautiful Edna Valley.  Tickets are limited, for more info, click here.  To register, click here.


WHAT IS LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

This informative flow chart is an creative way to learn more about what landscape architecture is, how the design process works, and how we contribute to the environment and society.