El Paseo Studios
Sustainable Housing / Affordable Housing
El Paseo Studios creates an affordable, high quality living environment for its residents. The building provides an exemplary model of the integration of design and sustainability; and contributes significantly to the enriching and shaping of the urban fabric.
The project site, a small triangular lot at the intersection of two busy avenues, marks the transition between a miles-long stretch of apartment buildings and the start of a busy commercial area. The design promotes placemaking and celebrates the urban significance of its location by transforming the site limitations into a striking architectural form.
Enriching urban fabric with sustainable living environments.
A large light-filled atrium and lobby welcomes residents; the double-loaded corridors that serve each building wings are bridged over the upper floors of the lobby. Included in the building is a large south-facing courtyard, community lounge, gym, computer lab, and laundry.
The buildings most prominent feature is a blade-edged roof that hovers above and overhangs the building. It sweeps dramatically around the acute-angled intersection, shading the walls from the mid-day sun.
This simple massing results in a large, sunny interior courtyard protected from street noise. In advance of LEED residential certification, the project includes a host of sustainable features – recycled content in the siding, guardrails, carpet, and ceiling tiles; low VOC paint; engineered lumber; low-flow plumbing fixtures; ; all fluorescent lighting; and “Energy Star” appliances. It also boasts one of the regions first “cool roofs.”
Project Details
LOCATION
San Jose, CA
CLIENT
First Community Housing
UNITS
96 Studios
COMPLETION DATE
2003
COST
$10.5M
CONTRACTOR
Branagh Inc.
“OJK Architects [now Architects FORA] have made a leap into tomorrow, into the way Silicon Valley will look in 10 or 20 years. The region will become denser. Satellite urban centers will become more important. The creators of El Paseo Studios have made a bold and intelligent attempt to define how that future might look. The question now is: Will anyone follow their lead?”
— Alan Hess, Author and Architectural Critic San Jose Mercury News, November 9, 2003
Project Recognition
/ AWARDS
Recognition for Design Excellence in Affordable Housing, 2005 American Institute of Architects , Washington, DC Center for Communities by Design
Excellence in Design Award, 2004 Environmental Design + Construction Magazine
Citation for Excellence in Architecture Award, 2004 AIA/ExRES Bay Area Exceptional Residential Design Awards/ AIAEB
Award of Merit for Affordable Housing, 2004 Pacific Coast Builders Conference, Gold Nugget Awards
/ PUBLICATIONS
Affordable Housing Design Advisor, August 2005 “Green Housing Project Gallery”
Design For Living, Spring 2005 “Short on space, long on design”
Multifamily Executive, November 2004 “Localities Absorb Shifting Burden of Affordable Housing”
Environmental Design + Construction Magazine, June 2004 “2004 Excellence in Design Awards”
California Housing Consortium, October 2007 “Case Study: El Paseo Studios” Silicon Valley Biz Ink, May 2004 “Affordable by design”
San Jose Magazine, November 2001 “Visions of the Valley – a Celebration of the Valley’s Best and Most Creative Architecture”