ORCHID FOR URBAN DESIGN

Jury Comments: San Diego’s Warehouse District in East Village has undergone an amazing revitalization since Petco Park was completed in 2004. Most people are familiar with the successful recycling of the Western Metal Supply building, a previous Orchid winner, but that was only the beginning. The list of preserved and restored warehouse buildings now includes the Candy Factory, Schiefer & Sons, TR Produce, SDG&E Station A, the Kvaas Building and many others. The Save Our Heritage Organisation, National Trust for Historic Preservation, City of San Diego, the Padres and the various developers deserve to be congratulated for injecting new life into the grand old warehouses of East Village. 

Two former urban warehouses are restored and given new purpose as part of the completion of San Diego’s downtown ballpark. On the edge of the Park at the Park, these three-story brick structures are fitted out for offices on the upper levels and restaurant and retail on the ground level. San Diego’s East Village was once populated by hundreds of masonry commercial structures. With downtown’s recent building boom, most of these urban industrial warehouses have been lost. These two—a former candy factory and a showcase manufacturer—are fortunately preserved and given a new purpose. Imagined as the completion of the downtown ballpark, the buildings front the Park at the Park and enjoy views onto the playing field.

Work on the buildings included seismic upgrades, restoration of the historic facades to their original appearance, inclusion of a new exiting and circulation system (including elevators) and specific contemporary interventions as follows:

• For the Candy Factory a new lobby was carved into the northernmost bay of the historic façade. An illuminated wall draws one deep into the building to the elevator core.
• At Schiefer & Sons the southern façade was completely rethought. Not historic due to its former party wall condition, the team was free to open this side of the building up to the park. A steel balcony system provides access to individual office suites and is deep enough to create private “porches” from which to enjoy the park or to watch a baseball game. Large glass roll up doors extend this experience deep into the building on all three levels.

Image