Project Data:

Completion Date:     9/7/2022

Square Footage:      6259

Building Use:           Restaurant

Design Architect:      Foubister Architects

Project Description:

The project is a new restaurant construction in the heart of the Yorba Linda city redevelopment. It is located on a corner lot close to a variety of business types and contributes to the diverse character of the neighborhood and city.

During recent times, the project overcame numerous challenges, from understanding the ever-changing codes to future proofing the design for an evolving sector. The project was an exercise to create maximum flexibility and resiliency for a program that can be tailored to the needs of different types of restaurants and food service businesses. It can act as a flagship dine in restaurant with strong cultural identity or can switch to solely drive through services providing maximum flexibility, from simple hours of operations to adhering to mandates and restrictions this service industry has been facing.

Regardless of the unpredictability of the last couple of years, the grand intent for this specific location of the Clyde’s Hot Chicken restaurant is to become a crucial component in the continued revitalization of the City of Yorba Linda’s downtown, taking what was once a brownfield site and creating a hub of social activity and gathering. It contributes to the neighborhood development and walkability factor, activate the street front, and brings in the strong character of a business that wants to belong in the preexisting urban fabric. The interior graphics for example, showcase historical pictures of the area for all users to see.

The massing focuses on a series of shipping containers that playfully intersect to create volumes and voids in which the program gets intertwined. This modular construction creates indoor and outdoor spaces apt to perform the required functions, fulfilling the owner intended program while engaging its surrounding and creating visual interest.

Street engagement is a key component, as such there are numerous entrances from both sides of the corner lot. This also doubles as an effective method for single direction circulation through the building. The large roll up garage door aims to draw the public in and break the traditional restaurant boundary lines unifying interior and exterior spaces. Additionally, it creates an inviting backdrop for the street front as well as being an essential element of street security: as much as the building is visible from the street, the street is visible from the restaurant.

The challenge with utilizing container relies in the standardized dimensions available set against the need to design for all in a fully accessible and permanent structure. Ultimately, the project culminates in a hybrid structure of traditional stud framing construction where more generous clearances are needed, and pre-designed back of house containers that can be replicated on other sites needing a strong identity. On the other end, the upside of using containers in their entirety and as cladding, lies in that they are post-consumer products, and can be retrofitted in a factory setting, limiting debris, and favoring recycling of scraps.

Each vertical circulation core is a pronounced concrete tower wrapped in perforated Corten cladding. The roof is a combination of green roof, light cool roof, solar harvesting potential and roof deck highlighting and exposing the users to several sustainable strategies in a very constricted urban site. The accessible roof deck provides exterior dining and can transform into an occasional venue for intimate live music and margarita times! The Corten, as it creates a patina over time, will work as a testament to the long-term resiliency of the projects itself.