The new concert and office venue features state-of-the-art teaching, rehearsal, practice and recording studios, and world-class performance spaces.
This project habitat, 7.5 acres, is the largest single design and construction project ever undertaken by the San Diego Zoo.
The building itself is exemplary: abundant daylighting, photovoltaic solar energy, optimized energy systems, and an anticipated LEED Gold Rating are just a few of the school’s distinctions.
As one juror put it “The best parts of the design are sensory, not just visual. You smell fresh air moving through the space and you feel the ebb and flow of natural light from skylights.”
The project successfully integrates sustainability, materials, and place; effortlessly blending the natural serenity of the outdoors and the interior space.
Initially conceived as an office building and then redesigned, permitted and converted in 30 days, during construction - to its current mix of residences, retail, and restaurants.
An array of imaginative details from the used wine barrels transformed into a grand chandelier to the use of mirrors to amplify the room’s volume to the artificial hedge disguising hidden doors.
When the Orchids & Onions jury disembarked the bus at Urban Corps of San Diego, quite frankly, they… liked it. But as they toured, they became mesmerized.
