Historic Context
The existing site had two locally historic designated buildings: the Pack Loft Building (1925) and the Unicorn Building (1927), both of which were planned to be renovated and preserved. An existing City of San Diego fire station also played an important role in the site planning process. The existing parking lots that took up most of the site encroached on the sidewalk, hindering the right-of-way, safety, and pedestrian circulation around the site.
Modern Intervention
The project concept was heavily influenced by the existing historical buildings on the site and its proximity to Petco Park. Placing a new, modern office building within this context would require sensitivity and creativity to successfully relate these buildings to one another and enhance the public realm at street level. Our team imagined the building meeting the street in a unique way so as to create desirable public open space and a very strong indoor-outdoor connection between the lobby and public right-of-way. Our site plan also called for the lobby to relate to Petco Park through massing articulation such as a cantilever or terrace and material transparency.
A Good Neighbor
The angled south face of the tower allows adjacent buildings to the east to retain at least some of their bayfront views and reduces early afternoon solar reflectance from the tower toward Petco Park. As well, the corner of the building that faces the ballpark is accentuated with a small mass floating above the building entry that protrudes away from the rest of the tower, reaching toward the ballpark and the public sphere.
Above the mass on the 15th and 16th floors of the tower, the building is cut away where the two-story outdoor terrace overlooks Petco Park. At the ground, the lobby entry is highly visible to welcome people from the street and makes a connection to the nearby ballpark with its majestic diamond shaped exposed concrete columns.
