Renaissance Square Housing Architectural Plan Check — Concord
The City of Concord requested architectural plan check services on this large urban housing and retail development in downtown Concord. A centerpiece for the City’s downtown redevelopment effort, the five-story project occupies two extremely large city blocks near the center of the business district and within walking distance to the BART station. The approved project’s design imitated Southern European style building facades along public streets and organized housing around interior pedestrian mews and courtyards. Parking was located below grade to facilitate high-density urban housing constructed to the limits for wood frame buildings. The size of the project permitted an architecture based on Italian Renaissance and California Spanish Revival forms and features. The conditions of the planning approval to the schematic design required architectural peer review of the construction documents by the City’s consulting architect, Arnold Mammarella. The City’s objectives for the review were to:
• Assure that the design presented in the approved renderings, elevations and exterior materials schedule was implemented by construction drawings.
• Help the City implement conditions of approval relative to the building architecture, which included review and approval of exterior detailing and finishes.
• Assist the City in field inspections and review of finish material samples.
Unfortunately, but not surprisingly the proposed construction documents included numerous changes to the design that would significantly degrade the architectural character of the facades and reduced the quality of exterior detailing, materials, and finishes shown on the approved renderings and exterior material exhibits. The changes to detailing and building wall offsets also altered the buildings’ sense of scale and watered down the articulation of façade elements, while poorly interpreting the Italian Renaissance and California Spanish Revival inspired architecture shown on approved renderings. Moreover, functional detailing such as vents and scuppers were haphazardly located on the facades and treated in a utilitarian manner and proposed materials where often downgraded (e.g., approved pre-cast building trim being changed to textured stucco over foam).
The project had lost much of the character defining features, its stylistic unity, and its finish and material quality that were elegantly implied by rendered perspectives and elevations. The architectural plan check process identified issues and the changes needed to restore the character of the building architecture and implement the City’s conditions of approval. Needed changes to the construction documents were addressed with the developer and project architect over the course of several meetings. Alternative detailing (e.g., wall trim profiles) and color schemes with supporting imagery that more closely matched the intentions shown in the approved renderings were also provided to facilitate the final project more closely resembling the approved plans.
While negotiations were difficult as the project team was quite resistant to the City requiring the project be built in accordance with planning level approvals, the peer review process effectively held the applicant accountable and resulted in a project built consistent with approved plans and city approval conditions.
