SOMOfunk

MT_Slide_3-4

SOMOfunk

Santa Barbara, CA
In Progress


Project Type

Mixed Use

Client

Somo SB, LLC

Collaborators

Suzanne Elledge Planning & Permitting
RRM | Civil Engineering
Cearnal Collective | Architect

Lead Designers

Courtney Jane Miller
Nicole Horn

perspective renderings by CJM::LA
SF-OTB_06
SF-OTB_01A
SF-OTB_02r
SF-OTB_05
SF-OTB_04
SF-OTB_09
SF-OTB_10

OCEAN MEADOWS

MT_Slide_3-4

OCEAN MEADOWS

Goleta, CA
In Progress


Project Type

Single Family Residential

Client

Ocean Meadows Investors, LLC

Collaborators

Stantec | Civil Engineering
DesignARC Santa Barbara | Architect
AlfaTech | Lighting Design

Lead Designers

Courtney Jane Miller

perspective renderings by DesignARC
OM-OTB_6
OM-OTB_3
OM-OTB_1
OM-OTB_4
OM-OTB_7
OM-OTB_5
OM-OTB_8

CJM::LA + AIASB Design Charrette 2020

At CJM::LA we seek out opportunities to create positive change in our community. The 2020 Design Charrette organized by the Santa Barbara Chapter of the American Institute of Architects aimed to Reinvigorate, Reinvent, Reimagine, and Repurpose our downtown with housing, energy, and life.  Both Courtney and Mariella from our office joined the charrette to work with local architects, planners, designers, students, citizens and professionals to develop a new vision for the design of our downtown core to lead us into the next 100 years.

Courtney collaborated with team B whose focus was on the downtown open spaces including the state street promenade, parks and plazas. Here are highlights of team B’s presentation of a new shared pedestrian promenade integrating stadium seating, stormwater, outdoor dining and public art.

Courtney’s words chosen to inspire a lively promenade and community

Courtney’s plan and elevation of what a complete street in Santa Barbara could look like

Mariella collaborated with team 6A whose area of focus were the blocks between Figueroa, Carrillo, Anacapa and Chapala streets; encompassing the transit center, local eateries, banks and other essential infrastructure to our downtown core. Here are some of their design ideas that revitalize the transit center; integrating bus, bicycle and ride share, adding housing, retail spaces and open space to form a highly functioning and invigorating entrance to downtown Santa Barbara.

in person collaborative sketching with Dee Carawan and Tai Yeh 

a quick sketch of Mariella’s used in the virtual design collaboration process

Dee Carawan’s final drawing of the transit center block

Thank you to all of our team members and to everyone who helped participate and organize this historical collaborative effort. You can watch the full recording of the design team presentations here.  The AIASB


Watch the AIASB Design Charrette 2020 Presentation

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.

 


AIASB Design Charrette 2020 Design Team Presentations

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


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.


SB Beautiful Golden Leaf Awards

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.

KEEPING SANTA BARBARA BEAUTIFUL DURING COVID-19
SB BEAUTIFUL “GOLDEN LEAF AWARDS”
CELEBRATING 55 YEARS OF BEAUTIFICATION

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.

WINNING PROJECTS & PARTICIPANTS:
  1. “Light It Blue”: City of Santa Barbara – Nina Johnson, Project Coordinator
    1. Project Description: Local landmarks lit up in blue during the month of May to show gratitude to healthcare & essential workers.
    2. Host Facility Sponsors: Arlington Theater; Lobero Theater; SB Museum of Natural History Sea Center; Cottage Hospital Santa Barbara; Mission Santa Barbara.
    3.  Coordinators/ Artists/ Sponsors: Andrew GartnerGartner Design Co. (Coordinator); Lani Ballonoff, SPARK Creative Events (Sponsor); Kym Cochran & Jonathan Smith, The Environment Makers (Participating Artists); Casey Caldwell, SB Arts Collaborative/CAW) (Sponsor); Jake Hanson, Bella Vista Designs (Sponsor); Ethan Turpin Art & Design (Participating Artist); Nina Dunbar (Coordinator).
  2. “Locals Helping Locals”: Allen Construction – Lindsay Helmick, CFO Project Coordinator
    1. Project Description: Building Pro Bono Outdoor Parklets; Seating; ADA Ramps, etc.
    2. Community Partners: Hayward Lumber; Mission Audio & Visual; CJM::LA; Evergreen SB
    3. Local Businesses: Brass Bear Brewing & Bistro; Dune Coffee; Holdren’s Steaks & Seafood; Kunin Wines; Little Kitchen; Mollie’s Restaurant; Renaud’s Patisserie & Bistro Montecito; Restaurant Roy; Valley Project; Villa Wine Bar.
  3. “2020 Design Charette – Downtown State Street”: AIA Santa Barbara Chapter, Project Coordinator
    1. Project Description: Reinvigorate, Reinvent, Reimagine, and Repurpose our Downtown with housing, energy, and life.
    2. Charrette Committee Co-Chairs: Cass Ensberg FAIA & LEED AP; Detlev Peikert AIA, LEED AP BD+C; Ellen Bildsten AIA LEED AP; Matt Beausoleil AIA & 2020 president AIA SB.
    3. Steering Committee: Alex Pujo AIA; Amy Fitzgerald-Tripp AIA; Paul Rupp AIA; Dennis Thompson FAIA; John Campanella; Karen Feeney, Hon. AIASB; Nina Johnson; Tony Tomasello; Jasper Jacobs P.E.
  4. “2020 Awards for Responsive Works to Covid-19~Artists’ Stipends”: County of SB Office of Arts & Culture – Sarah York Rubin, Executive Director
    1. Project Description: In recognition of artists’ essential contributions, up to 20 stipends of $500 each to local artists who created work in response to this unprecedented time of COVID-19.
    2. Dennis Smitherman, County Arts Commission; Karen Kerns, SB Bowl Foundation.  Project Participants:   “#WeMakeEvents” “#RedAlertRESTART” .
  5. Project Description: Local participation in a nationwide event of Red illumination of performing arts & culture venues on September 1, 2020 in support of live entertainment industry during Covid-19 pandemic.
  6. Host Facilities Event Sponsors: SB Bowl: Rick Boller, Executive Director; Eric Shiflett, Program Director. Arlington Theater: Tammy Steuart (Metro Theaters)
  7. Project Coordinator: Christopher Darling
  8. Lighting: SPARK Creative Events

About Santa Barbara 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


DUNE | PARKLET

Our friends at DUNE Coffee believe that specialty coffee is for everyone, and should be accessible, approachable and fun.  In May of this year, Santa Barbara City Council voted 7-0 to close State Street to cars in an effort to flatten the curve of Covid-19.  The owners of DUNE wanted to use this opportunity to create an inviting, bold and unique experience for the community.  Our concept was to create modular, multi-use seating elements for people to sit, perch or lean on while they chat, read, think, people watch or simply sip some coffee.

CJM::LA worked closely with the owners of DUNE and Allen Construction to make the parklet come to life. Allen Construction has been supporting the Santa Barbara community through their  ‘Locals Helping Locals’ program, where they offer free labor to help local businesses stay open through the pandemic.  We cannot thank the team at Allen enough for their hard work and collaboration, we could not have done it without them!

DESIGN PROCESS

parklet rendering by CJM::LA

work from home style sketch explorations by CJM::LA

 

INSTALLATION

installation day time-lapse

Allen Construction installing the parklet modules

CJM::LA and Allen Construction reviewing module spacing

Courtney and Mari selecting plants at La Sumida Nursery – Chondropetalum tectorum and Dianella ‘Cassa Blue’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mari masking out pink stripes at the parklet

FINISHED PRODUCT

peaking through the palms at the parklet


A First Look at our SOMOfunk Project

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:

FUN[KY]
THE LANDSCAPE DESIGN IS INSPIRED BY ITS NEIGHBORHOOD CONTEXT.  WHAT IS TODAY KNOWN AS THE FUNK ZONE, HAS PREVIOUSLY EXISTED AS AN INDUSTRIAL AREA, A WORKING CLASS NEIGHBORHOOD, PART OF THE EL ESTERO SWAMPY MARSH AND A VIBRANT TRADE HUB.  REMNANTS OF THESE USES REMAIN IN THE BUILDINGS, THE LAND, THE HARDSCAPE, THE PLANT MATERIAL AND THE SOUL OF THIS PLACE.  THESE REMNANTS WILL BE RE-PURPOSED FOR USE AS HARDSCAPE, FURNISHINGS AND SCULPTURAL ELEMENTS THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT SITE.  WHAT MAKES THE FUNK ZONE FUNKY IS ITS ABILITY TO SHAPE-SHIFT AND ADAPT, WHILE MAINTAINING ITS OWN IDENTITY SEPARATE FROM, BUT IN CONVERSATION WITH, THE LARGER SANTA BARBARA COMMUNITY.  THE EXTERIOR SPACES AT THE PROJECT FIT SEAMLESSLY INTO THE FABRIC OF THE FUNK ZONE BY IMPLEMENTING FUN, COLORFUL AND QUIRKY ELEMENTS INTO THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT.

Click here to read the full article.


WLAM | Landscape Architecture Myth Busting – Part 1

We encounter the work of landscape architects every day, although that work is often overlooked and experienced only in passing. Landscapes are the natural setting, the backdrop of our lives. However, the truth is that our cities and neighborhoods are carefully and deliberately constructed. Landscape architecture is the practice of fusing the natural, built and social environments to create a more engaging and dynamic world.

CJM::LA is excited to share the breadth of our profession by addressing some common misconceptions about landscape architecture in a two-part post.

Myth #1. Landscape architects design gardens and backyards

FALSE: We design all types of living spaces, not just your backyard!

This video by the ASLA shows how public parks can revitalize under-served communities. At CJM::LA, we provide a wide-range of design services for a variety of clients. A sampling of this diversity includes the following project types (as shown below): public park, hospitality, native creek restoration and non-profit.

Santa Barbara locals exercise at the oceanfront Cabrillo Ball Park

drought tolerant plantings frame lounge seating at The Everly hotel in West Hollywood, CA

raised planters create intimate spaces on the rooftop deck at The Everly hotel in West Hollywood, CA

entry plantings welcome you the Inn at the Pier in Pismo, CA

board-form concrete planters at Inn at the Pier in Pismo, CA

native creek restoration plan for Los Olivos, CA

permeable concrete pavers under construction at Unity of Santa Barbara

 

 

 

 

Myth #2. Landscape architecture = “decorative planting”

FALSE:  Landscape architecture is also essential infrastructure

Every project we design at CJM::LA is beautiful and functional. Landscape architects contribute to the essential infrastructure of our cities and communities through design and construction of storm water management systems. We improve air quality and reduce energy use when we plant trees. We support healthier living and reduce vehicle emissions by providing recreation opportunities, bike racks and designing safer streets.

The following images demonstrate how CJM::LA has incorporated some of these essential infrastructure elements: bioretention and filtration basins, exercise equipment, bike racks and plans for future shared, multi-modal streets.

“Filterra” proprietary biofiltration planters by Contech, with native Juncus patens

Direct Relief bioretention basin after a rain event: roof run-off captured and treated! 

we design spaces for people to get out, breathe, and decompress

we improve air quality with the addition of carbon-sequestering trees and plants

we support alternative modes of transportation: the ”Twist” bike rack from Forms + Surfaces

preliminary landscape plan with a shared street, proposed in Goleta, CA

preliminary landscape plan and shared street for a residential development in Ventura, CA


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.