The venerable George F. Haines International Swim Center put Santa Clara on the map as a preeminent training ground for college level athletes and Olympic swimmers, divers and synchronized swimmers. Historically used as a competition venue, ELS is developing a new vision for the 47-year-old swim center as a facility for high-performance competition and training, as well as community recreation. The updated center will feature four pools: a diving tank with new 10M, 7.5M, 5M, 3M, and 1M platform structures, a 50-meter competition pool and a 50-meter training pool (both for swimming and synchronized swimming), as well as a fun-water pool for recreation and swim lessons. Designed to accommodate anywhere from 2400 to 5000 spectators, the new swim center will serve a variety of community uses, and will provide support facilities for aquatic sports and athletes. The project will target LEED Platinum certification and is slated to break ground in 2016.

Links:
The Santa Clara Weekly: Going the Distance to Rebuild Santa Clara’s International Swim Center
ELS Portfolio: Santa Clara International Swim Center

The school is located on 3rd Avenue, across the street from the site of a future senior housing complex, in an area transitioning from light industrial to mixed-use. The building’s exterior and landscaping were designed in consideration of the City of Walnut Creek’s longer term planning goals.

(Images created by NCPB Design for KQED.)

What are you working on now that excites you?

Jamie: We have several terrific retail repositioning projects, such as Glendale Galleria, plus several mixed-use projects such as The Shops at Summerlin and Mo’ili’ili Gateway in Honolulu.
David: I am happy to see more concentrated development, more creativity in the mix of tenants, and a younger generation of clients that brings a new set of priorities such as green retail.
Ryan: At Mueller, in Austin, we are planning the town center for a 700-acre redevelopment that includes Dell Children’s Hospital, the planned Austin Children’s Museum, and University of Texas research campus, in addition to retail, office, entertainment and multi-family uses.

Has development changed since the Great Recession started in 2008?

Jamie: A number of predictable project types are leading the way out of the recession, namely the repositioning and reinforcement of existing properties ranging from modest brand identity improvements to the addition of new uses and significantly added density.   
Sean: We are seeing considerable pent-up demand for office space and multi-family housing in certain markets, such as San Francisco and Austin.
Ryan: Underlying all of our work is responding to the universal desire for engaging, meaningful and authentic places, which in today’s competitive marketplace is more important than ever.

What new uses are being added to mixed-use?

David: We are seeing more institutional, cultural and sports facilities placed front and center, adding to traditional retail destinations.
Sean: For example, I’m currently working on a project that mixes shopping and recreation uses – ranging from outdoor concerts to rock climbing – for parents, grandparents, office workers, students and children.

How do you account for changing demographics?

Jamie: They say demographics is destiny, which I think is generally true.
Sean: An amazing thing is happening right now. The Baby Boomers and their grandchildren share a desire for experience over acquisition. Dining, shopping, entertainment, fitness and a particular sense of place are key. Health, sustainability, walkability, and alternative modes of transit are often drivers of development. A vibrant mix of uses is akin to apps on a mobile device. Every experience needs to feel customized.

Kurt joined ELS in 1981 and has developed an expertise in historic preservation and cultural facilities, focusing on historic rehabilitation as a critical factor for urban revitalization. His historic rehabilitation projects revitalize communities and provide dynamic venues for cultural and educational organizations. They balance functionality with preservation to meet the needs of contemporary users while honoring the legacy of the past. His award-winning historic projects include the 1927 California Fox Theater in downtown San Jose, the 1928 Oakland Fox Theater, the 1929 Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts, the 1923 Grand Theater Center for the Arts in Tracy, the 1915 Old Administration Building at Fresno City College, and Riverside’s 1903 Mission Inn. His new theater projects include the Berkeley Repertory’s Roda Theatre and Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE.

Kurt received his M.Arch degree from UC Berkeley in 1974 and his bachelor’s degree in environmental design from UC Berkeley in 1970.

Links:
The Registry: ELS Principal Kurt Schindler Elected to the AIA College of Fellows
The American Institute of Architects: 2013 FAIA Announcement
Berkeley Patch: Berkeley Architect Honored as AIA Fellow
San Francisco Business Times: Bay Area People
Marin Independent Journal: Movers & Shakers
Berkeley CED News: Kurt Schindler Elected to the AIA College of Fellows

The building is a beautiful example of Spanish Renaissance style architecture. California State Architect George McDougall designed the 100,000-square-foot building, and to take advantage of the mild, sunny climate, he organized it around two spacious courtyards with arcaded loggias along the perimeters. The brick on the east and west walls of the auditorium and above the arcades features decorative Moorish geometric details.

The building had served a variety of purposes over the decades. The Fresno State Normal School used its classrooms, offices, and 1,000-seat auditorium to train teachers. In 1921, Fresno Junior College—the first community college in California and one of the first community colleges in the nation—moved in to share the campus with the normal school. Several decades later, Fresno Junior College (now Fresno City College) purchased the campus and took up residence in the administration building from 1956 to 1976. To keep up with a growing student body, the college erected new structures, while eliminating three of the original Spanish Renaissance buildings, leaving only the original library and the administration building.

A number of the city’s historic structures had been lost over the years, and the community was determined that this one would not share their fate. As soon as the administration building closed, Fresno’s historical society mounted efforts to save it. Various ideas were put forward to bring it back to life, including plans to transform it into an agricultural museum and then a senior center. But costs for seismic strengthening were prohibitive, and demolition often loomed as a possibility. Then in 2002, the passage of a local bond measure paved the way for the building’s return to service, supplemented by funds from the state, the community college district, and the State Center Community College Foundation.

We set about bringing the facility back to its original glory, hiding virtually all of our structural work behind original or replicated interior finishes. Fortunately, about 100 sheets of the original architectural drawings were still available, which helped a lot. We cleaned the exterior, which consists of uniquely textured, hand-crafted Roman brick. The original manufacturer had gone out of business about ten years before we began the project, and replicating the bricks would have been difficult, so in those rare cases when we had to remove a few bricks for seismic work, we saved them and used them in other places on the project. Everywhere we could, we saved and restored original materials, like the clay roof tiles, decorative wood eaves, tile accents, doors, and even the building’s 1,200 wood windows.

The interior had borne the brunt of the three decades of neglect, with water damage, mold and mildew, and graffiti—not to mention those feral cats, who had to be tempted out of the building with humane traps baited with tuna (no cats were harmed in the restoration—they were escorted to the SPCA). In refurbishing the spaces, we kept the original layout in more than 90 percent of the building, although we did insert some new restrooms and service spaces. We also concealed modern electrical, data, plumbing, mechanical, and fire protection infrastructure in attics, crawlspaces, and joist and wall cavities to keep them from disrupting the historic look.

In the auditorium, we restored the original seats, reducing their number from 1,000 to 660, with more room between them to accommodate contemporary ideas of comfort. We added light sconces to brighten the space, expanded the proscenium stage with a 12-foot apron, and installed adjustable acoustic shell to improve the sound.

The first phase of the Old Administration Building reopened in January 2011, and the second phase was completed in time for Fall 2012 classes. Once again, the Old Administration Building is bustling with students and faculty members, just as it was 95 years ago. It gives the campus additional instructional capacity for about 2,000 students—not including the auditorium—and offices for 70 faculty and campus administrators. The high ceilings, light-filled spaces, and traditional detailing provide an environment that is rarely affordable in new construction. It might have worked as a senior center or a museum—adaptive use is a great way to bring historic buildings back to life—but in this case, it’s great to see this vital piece of the campus’s fabric restored to its original role. It was worth the long wait.  

(Historic photos courtesy of State Center Community College District)

Link: The Real Green Opportunities in Retail

The Registry‘s 2013 Trends and Outlook issue features a Q&A with Sean Slater, Director of Retail and Mixed Use at ELS, on retail trends. From bustling downtowns to suburban malls, the bricks-and-mortar store is poised for reinvention. Faced with increased competition from web retailing, merchants are creatively elevating the in-store experience into something more exciting and entertaining to engage shoppers who want authentic experiences, not just goods.

(Photo by Chad Ziemendorf for The Registry)

Link: Bay Area Retail Asks: Are You Experiential?

My advice to new graduates is to reach out to companies before you need a job. During my sophomore year, I approached ELS, and spoke to one of the principals about my interest in architecture. I was not looking for an internship or work, but rather guidance and feedback on the projects I was designing in school. It was inspiring to see someone with such a wealth of experience still be so passionate about architecture. Our conversation not only helped me better understand what it was like to be in the profession,  but it also motivated me to continue pursuing a degree in architecture. Upon graduating, I contacted ELS again. Thankfully, the principal remembered me, invited me in for an interview, and hired me.

In the last seven months at ELS, I’ve had the chance to work on a variety of projects: the Uytengsu Aquatics Center at the University of Southern California, the new Swim Stadium at UC Berkeley, Glendale Galleria near Los Angeles, and Mueller Town Center near Austin. It’s been an eye-opening experience — and not quite like I imagined it when I was an architecture student.

Because my father was a history professor and spent a lot of time in archives around the world, I spent time as a child living in Japan and Russia, as well as travelling around Europe. Exploring many different cities and art museums at such a young age cultivated my love for art. I studied painting and drawing in high school. When I got to college, I didn’t have a clear direction of what I wanted to do. After taking various classes from history to math, I found that I missed the creative outlet that drawing and art gave me. My brother (who ended up becoming a lawyer) had studied architecture. So I took an architecture class. I spent so much time drawing that I immediately knew architecture is what I wanted to do. The first time I stayed up all night was for a project where we cut out bits of paper from a book to construct a city. It was so exciting to make something tangible that I can proudly show to others.  The opportunities in architecture school allowed me to do architecture for architecture’s sake, rather than for any specific program or client, and without the limits of time or money.

After getting my B.A., I plan to work for a few years before returning to school for my Master’s in Architecture. I recently started the NCARB/AIA Intern Development Program (IDP) – a supervised path to licensure that ensures you have a chance to work in predesign, design, project management, and practice management. I’ve been in IDP for seven months now. It took some time to adjust from being responsible for all aspects of a project at school to discovering my role as part of a team.

When you graduate from an architecture program, you think, well, it’s been great designing these crazy fantastical buildings, but in the “real world” it’s time to go design restrooms and pick up red marks in CAD. While there is some of that, I’ve been surprised by how many opportunities I have been afforded to assist in the design of the project. My primary work at ELS has been on the USC Uytengsu Aquatics Center for the water polo, swimming, and diving athletic departments. 

My first task was to develop a series of interior renderings using both Rhino 3D and V-Ray renderer so that our team at ELS and the Athletic Department at USC could better understand some of the key spaces. This process allowed our team to explore different possibilities on paper, and quickly see them visualized in three-dimensional space. The sketches are still diagrammatic enough that much of the work has to be done at the detail level of the actual modeling. It’s been a dialogue between design, modeling and visualization. I am proud to have contributed to such a prestigious university project, only 6 months after graduating from school.

Part of this unique experience is being lucky enough to work at a mid-sized firm. Some of my former classmates have found themselves either at very small firms, where they work on small projects and have almost too much responsibility, or in very large firms with corporate structures, where they never get to talk with their bosses.

From the people I work with at ELS, and from studying the work of architects I admire—like Rem Koolhaas, Toyo Ito, Kengo Kuma, Herzog & de Meuron, and Diller Scofidio + Renfro—I’m learning that architecture is much more than buildings; architecture is a cross-disciplinary form of art, installation, and the environment at a human scale. Architecture can be about creating a concept and then executing it in a building that can, very simply but beautifully, bring tangible form to that idea.

It can be tricky to do that in the real world, of course, and it depends on the project type. You have to balance the concept with the practicalities. But ideally, that’s the kind of architecture that I want to do: big public work that expresses a simple, clean concept in built form, that emphasizes environmental sustainability, and engages its surrounding communities.  School makes you dream big and without limitations. Now, less than a year out of Berkeley’s conceptual curriculum, I am learning how to take my design from paper to the real world without sacrificing the fantastical ambitions that drove me to stay up all night cutting an imaginary city into a book.

The USC Uytengsu Aquatics Center begins construction this month, January 2013. The project is the renovation and expansion of the former USC McDonald’s Olympic Swim Stadium that opened in 1983 and served as the site of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games. The Uytengsu Aquatics Center will include permanent seating for 1,500 spectators, new shade canopy structure, lighting for night time competitive events, and the ability to flex to accommodate 2,500 spectators for larger events. The new center will also provide an array of student-athlete and coach amenities including new locker rooms, team rooms, lounges and offices. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on November 2, 2012.