Judges' Comments

• N/A

Project Data:

Completion Date:     6/30/2019

Square Footage:      821866

Building Use:           A Phased 18-Acre Mixed Use Master Plan Site with 25,800 SF REtail / Commerical & 1,400 Multifamily Units Planned

Location:                 Santa Ana, CA

Project Description:

An obsolete and nearly derelict industrial site safeguarded the core values of the farmers, industrialists and
programmers who shaped the land before it: nature, community and urbanity. From their legacy, we harvested the
elements for a gateway community such as Southern California has never experienced and yet has always craved.

The kernel was an existing data center which had been enveloped by a vast existing warehouse. Once the chaff was
cleared and the center renovated and adapted, its position at the junction of a fiber optic superhighway would create
hundreds of tech jobs. The data center is the genesis, the promise of innovation and economic stability.

From that seed sprouts a coursing green pathway. Its central stem is a connecting street filled with outcroppings of
raised edible planters, public art and interactive recreation. It pools into a one acre public park at its terminus and sends
out tendrils of walking and jogging trails.

Structures naturally arise out of this verdant conduit like fruit. Retail spaces and community gathering spaces draw life
from the pedestrian vine. Numerous sky decks rise out of this interconnected network of urban streetscapes, courtyards
and common areas, and offer views of the surrounding region. The prime elements of wood, metal and stone ripen into
thrilling, monumental sculptures of rustic modern. They form and reform as if emerging by varietal: all frames and lenses
for the thrivers and professionals, naturalistic forms and textures for the players and explorers, and intricate patterns
and tessellation for the creators and techies. This living statuary, sustainably formed with a LEED Silver rating, gives
shelter, promotes gathering and nurtures commerce.

The synergy of this place culminates into a lifestyle that feels authentic, because it was pulled out of the greyfield itself
and built upon all the dreams that had been realized before it. The result is a true multi-generational, live-work-play
mecca where families prosper, relationships form and businesses burgeon. The bounty of the community overflows into
street frontages adorned with linear parks, and connectivity to regional bicycle trails, park systems, and future urban
mixed-use neighborhoods. It represents the heritage of the region coalesced for a new era.

C.O.T.E. | Committee on the Environment

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