Platt-Whitelaw Architects

California

Want the 411 on Balboa Park’s Botanical Building Redo? Tour with Us!

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Excitement Builds as Renovation of Iconic Balboa Park Structure Progresses

In the early 20th century, California was promoting redwood construction. The 1915 California-Panama Exposition was the perfect place to showcase its redwood lumber to the rest of the nation and the world.

This is why the Botanical Building in Balboa Park, built as part of said exposition, is made predominately from redwood.

A Tour & Trivia

We’d like to thank Wayne Donaldson, who co-led a recent construction tour of the Botanical Building for our staff and threw in some trivia, like the fact above. It’s exciting to see our architectural restoration design come to life and to learn more about the preservation of this majestic building.

Wayne, a preservation architect and former State Historic Preservation Officer of California, is part of our design team for the Botanical Building restoration, which is currently underway. EC Constructors is serving as the general contractor, and its owner, Jim Summers, was the other half of the duo leading our tour.

Rebuilding a San Diego Icon

“EC Constructors is doing great job producing high quality work,” said Platt/Whitelaw Principal Sandra Gramley, AIA, who along with Yolanda Velazco, LEED Green associate, and Sam Saltzman comprise our PWA team for the Botanical Building. “Curved, wood moldings are something contemporary framers don’t often have to deal with, so Jim and his team truly became craftsmen to form the wood to match the moldings from 1915.”

Also taking shape are the windows and the arcade across the front of the building, which are being recreated from the original design.

“The stucco arcade and windows were part of the original building but few people living today have seen them as part of this structure,” Sandra added.

The last renovation of the building happened in the 1950’s, which is when the windows and stucco arcade were removed.

Even More Trivia

The Botanical Building is one of just four structures from the 1915 exposition that was designed to remain in place after the exposition.

Another piece of trivia Wayne shared during our tour was this: The building wasn’t included in the original master plan for the park.

It not only got added to the plan, but the building is still here nearly 110 years later. What’s even more fascinating: it just had a refurbished, 2,000-pound cupola plopped on top of it.

Our readers may have seen press coverage of the cupola installation. The copper steeple and dome cupola is the same one first installed in 1915.

Men (& Women) at Work

Restoration work still pending includes window installation, some framing, wood trim, stucco application and molding work. Those keeping careful tabs will already know that the work is happening from the west end of the building and progressing to the east end.

The restoration work also involves preserving the iconic Moreton Bay Fig tree planted at the northeast corner of the building when it was originally constructed in 1915. Over time, the tree roots grew into the building! To make sure the tree can keep growing, modifications were made to the exterior facade.

While a few other mature plantings remained in place during construction, the City of San Diego will eventually repatriate and add new smaller plants that have been living off site while work progresses.

Then, Now & Gratitude

Over the decades, water damaged the wood and steel extensively and a remodel compromised the original design of the Botanical Building. For the past couple of years, we’ve provided architectural design services to restore this beloved structure and worked with a wonderful team to do so. It’s an incredible project to be part of, and we’re grateful to the City of San Diego for the opportunity.

Give Me Shelter

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Pallet City in Chula Vista will provide temporary homes for more than 130 formerly unsheltered people

Community architecture is our jam, and that means architecture for everyone. We’re so pleased to work on a project that will provide individuals, couples and families – all of whom currently live without shelter – with temporary homes at Pallet City in Chula Vista, California.

At a recent groundbreaking ceremony, covered by CBS8, Chula Vista city officials, the building team and community members celebrated the start of construction for 66 pallet homes, also known as tiny homes, on city-owned land.

Located near Broadway and Main Street, the tiny-homes neighborhood, the first of its kind in San Diego County, will shelter more than 130 people and their pets starting this fall.

Residents at Pallet City will also have access to multi-purpose rooms, restrooms, showers and a laundry facility. On-site services will include job assistance, medical care and 24-hour security. Residents chosen for Pallet City are vetted through Chula Vista’s Homeless Outreach Team (HOT).

Originally envisioned as one large structure, Platt/Whitelaw Architects helped the city pivot during the pandemic to accommodate small, individual structures instead of one communal space. Working with prime contractor Kimley-Horn, Platt/Whitelaw managed site planning with support from electrical engineering consultant Turpin & Rattan and fire consultant Jensen Hughes.

This work included accessibility measures; layout of the units and property gates; hardware; signage; site lighting; electrical service upgrades; and fire suppression in each unit and common areas. Principal Naveen Waney led our team with assistance from Samantha Saltzman.

“We’re proud to be part of this creative effort to provide homes for San Diegans who have faced trials and tribulations that led them to live in a vehicle or on the street instead of in a home,” said Naveen. “By also coordinating on-site services, the City of Chula Vista is making an admirable effort to help some of its most vulnerable citizens to better their lives in a sustainable and dignified way.”

Samantha, who incorporated homeless shelter design into her study program when attending NewSchool of Architecture & Design, added, “It makes me all the more grateful to play a small role in seeing this project through. It’s nice to work on something that is adding resources and value to our community.”

Western Rim Constructors is performing the sitework, including the building pads and anchorages, while Pallet SPC is assembling the shelters for installation by Western Rim. Federal funding will cover the $3.5 million project, as well as the ongoing operations costs.

Hello, Sunshine! Platt/Whitelaw Architects Helps SDUSD Schools Go Solar

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By Sandra Gramley, AIA, LEED ap BD+C

At Platt/Whitelaw, we’re helping empower schools in more ways than one. While school design and modernization have long been part of our work product, some recent San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) directives have us literally powering schools.

As of September 2020, 7,332 K-12 schools throughout the nation use solar power. This number represents approximately 5% of all schools nationwide. The Brighter Future: A Study on Solar in U.S. Schools report goes on to list the top five states for schools using solar power: California, New Jersey, Arizona, Massachusetts and Indiana.

It’s no surprise that the Golden State, especially with Southern California’s abundant sunshine, factors large on that list. Locally, SDUSD, California’s second-largest school district, is creating one of the largest distributed solar energy plants in the United States, according to news released by AMSOLAR Corporation.

Engie Services reported that SDUSD is expected to achieve $9.08 million in energy savings over the life of its solar program. As California’s second largest school district, SDUSD is a leading example of what schools can do to practice energy efficiency.

It’s not just other school districts that pay attention—it’s also the students themselves. SDUSD students can learn about environmental responsibility and solar energy through onsite science and education programs that incorporate these solar installations in the curriculum.

Platt/Whitelaw Architects is very proud to be one of two San Diego architecture firms providing its services to help implement SDUSD’s ambitious goals to create solar energy at every one of its more than 200 school campus as well as various administrative facilities. Bond measures passed by local voters made this possible.

The District has also worked with Sage Renewable Energy Consulting, an independent energy consulting and project management firm based in San Rafael, California, that provides public agencies with energy expertise to plan, build and manage solar, storage and efficiency projects.

Our architects are providing criteria design to be used by design/build contractors for parking lot and playground shelters topped with solar panels at fourteen schools. Platt/Whitelaw staff is now designing for twelve more sites, some of which are administrative support facilities, including a transportation center where the solar panels will support the District’s plans to electrify its bus fleet.

Performing this work during the pandemic initially meant delays as some of the project team members were unable to assess the campuses while they were completely closed to the public. Ultimately, campuses were opened to limited personnel, and installation became much easier without having to accommodate students on site during construction. Overall, projects are completing on schedule.

The design work comes with some challenges. Most of the solar arrays are mounted on shade shelters, so architects need to consider path of travel so that playgrounds and parking lots can remain accessible under Title 24 standards.

Solar installation standards must be considered in the design, too. Panels need to be level rather than conforming to the slope of the ground below.

Solar panels have been critical for defraying energy costs from cooling classrooms. Fortunately, the cost savings goes beyond covering just air conditioning.

By lowering operating costs, school districts boost their budgets for costs associated with altering instructional programs for distance or hybrid learning, hiring more teachers, updating and expanding book supplies and more.

SDUSD’s energy savings program also included conversion to LED lighting and HVAC system upgrades. In 2015, the SDUSD’s Board of Education adopted climate mitigation and adaptation goals to achieve 100% renewable energy use by 2030 and various other strategies to increase environmental responsibility.

Ten years shy of that time horizon, SDUSD has seen dramatic results. According to Distributed Energy, “the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) lays claim to having one of the lowest utility costs per student in the country.” The District has reduced its energy usage by 25% since putting in place energy efficient strategies.

We’re honored to help the District achieve its climate mitigation and adaptation goals and to play a part in creating teaching opportunities for SDUSD’s more than 135,000 students.