The Santa Barbara Chapter of the American Institute of Architects put together the 2020 Design Charrette to Reinvigorate, Reinvent, Reimagine, and Repurpose our Downtown with housing, energy, and life. On Wednesday, each of the sixteen design teams presented their key recommendations and design concepts to the public via a zoom webinar. You can watch the recording of the design team presentations here.
For the past two months, over 150 volunteer architects, landscape architects, planners, civil engineers, designers, property owners and associated stakeholders have been hard at work developing a new vision for Santa Barbara’s downtown core. The Santa Barbara Chapter of the American Institute of Architects put together the 2020 Design Charrette to Reinvigorate, Reinvent, Reimagine, and Repurpose our Downtown with housing, energy, and life.
At 6 PM on Wednesday, October 21, 2020 each of the sixteen design teams will present their key recommendations and design concepts to the public via a zoom webinar. All are welcome! Please join Courtney, Mariella and the Santa Barbara community for this exciting event!
Click here to join the webinar!
Password: 937473
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 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.
We are thrilled to have our Dune parklet awarded a Santa Barbara Beautiful ‘Golden Leaf Award’ through our participation with Allen Construction‘s ‘Locals Helping Locals’ program. Thank you Allen Construction, Dune Coffee, Santa Barbara Beautiful and the Santa Barbara community for showing creative resiliency throughout this pandemic.
WHO: Santa Barbara Beautiful continues a 55 Year tradition of beautification with “Golden Leaf Awards”.
WHAT: SBB honors local businesses & organizations who showed leadership during this challenging time of Covid-19 Pandemic to enhance public space & support the arts.
HARD NUMBERS: (60) Hand-Calligraphed Awards Certificates for “Outstanding Community Support”
QUOTE: “We’re honored to celebrate our 55th Anniversary with Golden Leaf Awards – dedicated to the strength of our community & the individuals who have given joy to our city during difficult times. Congratulations to each and every one!” ~ Penny Haberman, President SB Beautiful.
Since 1965, Santa Barbara Beautiful has planted over 12,000 trees, provided over $500,,000 in grants to support local art and design projects, funded scholarships to students majoring in environmental horticulture & architecture, and celebrated numerous individuals, residences, and businesses that have demonstrated exceptional efforts to make Santa Barbara beautiful.
The purpose of Santa Barbara Beautiful is to stimulate community interest and action toward the enhancement of Santa Barbara’s beauty as a complement to current and future government and private activity.
Santa Barbara Beautiful is an organization of volunteers dedicated to beautifying our area in a variety of ways not only by working independently but also by cooperating with city departments, neighborhood association and other agencies. Formed in 1965 by concerned civic leaders, Santa Barbara Beautiful is a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation. Contributions are tax-deductible
Located across from Alice Keck Park Memorial Garden for over 60 years, Unity of Santa Barbara is an integral part of the Santa Barbara community. We recently had the pleasure of working with Unity on the renovation of their downtown campus. CJM::LA worked closely with both the Unity leadership team and congregation to develop a new design for their “front yard” space. What was once a traditional lawn with limited event capacity is now a beautiful courtyard suitable not only for outdoor services, but also weddings and other community events. Thank you to Allscape Design + Installation for an incredible job with the landscape installation, Stone Concepts for hardscape installation and VE Builders for carpentry work.
Unity courtyard before
Unity courtyard after | new permeable pavers, olive trees and custom wood benches
CJM::LA verifies hardscape, gravel and wood samples on site
Stone Concepts lays Hydro-Flo permeable pavers by Pacific Interlock Pavers
Allscape installs olive trees in the courtyard
hardscape and olive trees installed in the courtyard
VE Builders installs custom mangaris benches in the courtyard
completed courtyard
Construction of this downtown Santa Barbara home, winner of a 2019 Santa Barbara Beautiful award, was completed last year. This spring, pool contractor California Pools began installation of the integrated pool & spa. See more about the home and construction process in the owner’s blog.
finish grading before pool construction
pool framing and plumbing
the outdoor fireplace, a remnant of a prior home on the property, is resurrected in a new pool-side terrace
California Pools place rebar for the pool deck
This Santa Barbara seaside renovation is in an exquisite location with breathtaking views of the ocean and islands. The recent architectural improvements executed by Allen Construction significantly enhanced the home’s Spanish-style character and gave it a new vibrancy. CJM::LA’s master plan for the site included a blend of formal and informal plantings, new small play lawn, permeable paving, ocean view deck and trellis, and thoughtfully integrated hardscape elements. The overall goal was to implement our client’s vision for a relaxing and safe getaway retreat.
Structural solutions for building near a bluff edge, as well as civil engineering expertise were provided by Ashley & Vance Engineering. The landscape was installed by Quality Tree Care.
BEFORE – existing impermeable concrete entry drive
AFTER – new entry drive lined with young ornamental plantings
AFTER – hydro-flo permeable paver entry drive
BEFORE – backyard
AFTER – finished installation of Cherokee creek flagstone and slope-stabilizing plants
CMU blocks being stacked to form the base of the BBQ
BBQ completed by Quality Tree Care
Quality Tree Care installing slope plantings to strengthen soil structure and prevent erosion. Deck post helical pile footings (required due to their proximity to the bluff edge) also installed by Quality Tree Care!
wavy drift of Helictotrichon sempervirens (Blue Oat Grass) is reminiscent of the ocean shoreline
installation of ‘play’ lawn by Quality Tree Care
Read Full Article:
First Look at the Blockbuster Development Proposed for the Funk Zone
April 27, 2020
SITELINE
We are excited to share some initial drawings for the SOMOfunk project via this recently published article. The SOMOfunk project will bring a new energy to the Funk Zone on Santa Barbara’s waterfront. Following is an excerpt from our landscape narrative:
Click here to read the full article.
The new Courtyard and TownePlace Suites by Marriott in Agoura Hills is almost complete. Architect: Awbrey Cook Rogers McGill, construction by DavisReed and landscape installation by LSCO.
This dual-brand hotel features a large courtyard with multiple “outdoor living” features: fire pits, BBQs for guests, shady gathering areas and a large pool. The new building is surrounded with native California shrubs and grasses and roughly 25 new oak trees, all irrigated with recycled water.
motorcourt with decorative pedestrian handrail (primer coat!) and ramp to Agoura Rd.
permeable pavers by Belgard
aloes with the Santa Monica mountains (beyond) & purple valve cover indicating recycled irrigation water
glass pool enclosure and pool deck underway
custom steel pool enclosure designed to complement the Craftsman-style architecture
baby dragon trees & porcelain “Sundeck” pavers by Belgard
custom steel pergola with Octopus Agave below
”Twist” bike rack from Forms + Surfaces
concrete fire bowl with built-in radial concrete bench, fire bowl by Concrete Creations
“Filterra” proprietary biofiltration planters by Contech, with native Juncus patens
“Palazzo” concrete detectable warning pavers by Ackerstone. The craftsman-style trellis is part of a pedestrian network linking adjacent commercial properties to improve walkability in the City of Agoura Hills
Part 2: More myth-busting as we continue to address common misconceptions about landscape architecture.
Larger, denser cities are cleaner and more energy efficient than smaller, suburban towns. Suburban and rural towns may have immediate access to open space and wildlands outside city limits because of their more dispersed organization, but large cities can emulate natural ecologies.
Street trees, courtyards, green roofs and living walls, along with botanic gardens and parks provide a network of outdoor spaces that enhance the biological diversity of our cities and help provide essential infrastructure. This framework of planted spaces is able to capture and treat urban run-off, lower temperatures, improve air quality and provide resilience against climate change. Gardens and community farms also provide food and improve human health.
At CJM::LA, we help make our cities healthier and greener by advocating for more planting and functional outdoor space, especially in our densest multi-family housing projects; designing public parks, paseos, and green roofs; and improving city streetscapes.
transplanted Mexican fan palms line the stairs at Bella Riviera workforce homes in Santa Barbara, CA
plant pockets and climbing vines beautify the drive aisles at the East Beach Collection in Santa Barbara, CA | architect: WHA
live roof at the Hilton Garden Inn in Goleta, CA
textural plantings line the sidewalk at the Arlington Village apartments in downtown Santa Barbara, CA
entry plantings at homes designed for Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County in downtown Santa Barbara, CA
citrus trees within over-structure planters create a beautiful courtyard at Bella Riviera workforce homes
mediterranean plantings within raised planters help create opportunities for outdoor seating
neighborly gifts grown in downtown Santa Barbara, CA
During a prolonged drought, there is less available water in the natural ecosystem, which negatively impacts human food and water security. Less water available in aquifers and other natural water bodies means less water for the agricultural industry and for our cities.
Landscape architects provide drought resilience by designing systems to comprehensively and efficiently manage water resources. By implementing bioretention basins, rainwater cisterns, efficient irrigation, greywater recycling and use of climate-adapted and native plants, we optimize our water resources and reallocate the potable water supply for drinking use.
It might seem counter-intuitive, but plants improve our ability to resist the impacts of drought by improving soil health, allowing soils to better capture and store water. Plants also sequester carbon, lower air temperatures, and if used in applications like green roofs, reduce building energy use and reduce the urban heat island effect. We shouldn’t eliminate plants because they use water. Instead, we should be smarter about how we supply plants with water and which plants we elect to use.
Want more info? See these additional links about drought resilience and using green infrastructure to mitigate the impacts of other hazards, like wildfires and climate change.
bioretention plants treat stormwater runoff at the Direct Relief headquarters in Santa Barbara, CA.
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
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.
Renovations are underway at what will soon be known as the Hyatt Mar Monte. As this project nears the end of the construction phase, the CJM::LA continues to oversee the revitalization of this historic hotel with Young Construction and Steve Hanson Landscaping. This project combines layered textural plantings with historic Spanish Colonial detailing, ensuring a natural cohesion with the Santa Barbara waterfront.
demolition of the existing parking lot and impermeable brick paving
converting the existing parking lot into a pedestrian promenade and lobby placita
decorative columns taking shape!
framing the fountain
setting the mediterranean fan palm in place at the pool deck
converting the existing pool deck into a lush paradise
careful restoration of the original hotel entry
putting the finishing touches on our lobby placita fountain. tile provided by NS Ceramic.
