By Deidra Darsa

Collaboration and Innovation Provide Foundation for Cutting-Edge Architecture

Gap Inc.

Over time, technological revolutions impacting construction materials and changing design needs foster the necessity for evolving architecture and affect the way architects and developers collaborate. Buildings are as much about form as they are about function. And through the latest architectural trends, developers are finding new ways to not only make their buildings visually appealing—but also to be environmentally responsible and efficient for future tenants.

As these goals have evolved, so too have the relationships between real estate developers and architectural designers. Real estate companies like Catellus Development Corporation, Essex Properties Trust, Inc. and Charles E. Smith Residential Realty Inc. are now working closer with architects to develop cutting-edge properties.

"It's a collaborative process with architects," says William Scott, senior vice president, Catellus Development Corporation. "They express their ideas on how they are going to design the project."

A successful collaboration based on a developed working relationship helps bring the product to market much faster than would ordinarily be possible, says Harry Gordon, senior vice president of Washington, D.C.-based architectural engineering firm Burt, Hill, Kosar, Rittelmann Associates. "We found that by using that [team] approach we can bring a major commercial office building [approximately 150,000 square feet] online in 11 months from the time we begin the project until the time the client occupies the building."

Since there are many cases in which construction drawings are not fully developed, information must be delivered to the field staff quickly as problems appear and need to be resolved. "This depends on a close working relationship between the designers and builders as well as an understanding with the developer that the job is not going to be free of change orders," Gordon says.

Artist's rendering of Sante Fe Place

Teamwork Leads to Smooth Sailing

When everyone involved on a building project is on the same page, it allows for more creativity in the design process. As Catellus staff and architects began conceptualizing Santa Fe Place, a 15-acre site surrounding the historic Santa Fe train depot in San Diego, CA, the team knew the picturesque harbor location should play a role in its look.

"Our firm and its team believe the building should reflect its place," Scott says. "The sail-like structure of the exterior elevation promotes the sense of being at a waterfront location. [Sante Fe Place] needs to be striking. It needs to have the kind of architectural character that makes it a significant presence on the San Diego skyline in addition to being functional and marketable. It has to be rented at a market rate and function so that it meets the needs of users. Clearly, energy efficiency and the ability to meet tenant technological needs in the 21st century are also critical."

Architect Paul Dana of Los Angeles-based Daniel Mann Johnson Mendenhall has been working closely with Catellus staff on the design of Sante Fe Place, which has been approved for the development of 3.3 million square feet of office, residential, hotel and retail use space.

"The whole issue of energy has driven the design from one point of view," Dana says. "Also, it responds in an appropriate way to this very significant site in San Diego's gateway into downtown."

The building's curved face is shaped like a sail by using energy efficient glass coated with titanium to give it the blue tint. "The sail looks to the bay and tries to capture the spirit of San Diego through its color, form and movement," Dana says. "The building design is very sensitive to being appropriately scaled to the rest of the community at pedestrian level and outdoor spaces will be scaled to street frontages."

New Looks for New Demands

In addition to designing a building to fit in with its surroundings, developers and architects continue to face the challenge of keeping up with increasing tenant demands. And the demands extend beyond the increasing power and technological needs of office and industrial space. By staying abreast of design and architectural trends and taking stock of difficult design issues, Essex Property Trust, Inc., owner of more than 18,000 multi-family units, and Charles E. Smith Residential Realty, owner and/or manager of 30,000 apartments, continue to develop state-of-the-art multi-family properties. Both companies have been lauded for their designs by the National Association of Home Builders.

"The concept of building block, vanilla wrapper residential apartment buildings is gone forever," says John Eudy, executive vice president of development for Essex. "Quality shows inside and out and tenants will pay the rent for it."

Modern design has enabled developers to create space that is more tenant friendly. "In the last 10 to 20 years we've seen a move to a more efficient use of space," says Al Neely, president of Charles E. Smith's development division. "I think there's just a little more attention to it today."

As the Santa Fe Place project showed, one of the biggest changes in exterior design has been the use of glass. Both Charles E. Smith and Essex maximize the use of glass in exterior walls. "Nobody used glass like that 20 years ago because it didn't have the ultra-violet protection it has today," Eudy says. "Glass today will reflect heat and in the old days it didn't do that. Instead, it would cause the building to get too hot."

An increasing number of new office and apartment buildings are utilizing natural lighting. "The ratio of glass to solid walls has gone up substantially," says Neely, adding that four or six-foot windows add drama to bedrooms and other rooms. "The return is very high on that investment."

Internal Facelift

Design trends have also stretched inside the building. By altering the design of foyer and bedroom closets, living space increases in Charles E. Smith apartments. Bathrooms are stylish and kitchens are open. All finishes have been upgraded to include ceramic tiles, Corian or granite countertops, hardwood floors and warmer colors throughout the apartments.

"We are spending a lot of money on kitchen and baths," Neely says. "The trend today is toward maple cabinets and a high-grade appliance package. We try to add a pantry in our kitchens. In bathrooms, whenever we can we use an oversized tub, a banjo-style countertop or pedestal sinks, and elongated toilet bowls."

High-speed Internet access, cable television, extra telephone outlets, gas fireplaces and washers and dryers in both high-rise and garden apartments are now the norm, Neely adds. To make garden apartments more appealing, Charles E. Smith is raising ceilings and adding loft top floors in its new units.

Make It Sustainable

While detailing buildings with the latest styles, colors and designs is important, developers will agree that energy efficiency and conservation is increasingly important in an environmentally conscious society.

"I'm seeing a real emphasis on the part of some developers and occupants to construct or rent buildings that include sustainable design," says architect Harry Gordon. "To us that means buildings that have a more responsive energy and environmental aspect. It translates into things like day lighting in office spaces, excellent indoor air quality, using materials and building systems that don't rely upon scarce resources and don't contribute to poor indoor air quality. Some of our clients are asking that the building reach a certain level in the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED system. So people want to have [LEED designation] as an indication that we care about the environment and good buildings and they want to market their buildings that way." [For more information on the LEED system, see the July/August 2001 Real Estate Portfolio, "It's Easy Being Green."]

Depending upon its designation level, a LEED building would most likely have substantial natural light, clean air and materials that don't emit volatile organic compounds that make the air difficult to breathe.

"People like to be able to have natural light in their workspace and like to see outside," Gordon says. "They want fresh air. That can be achieved in a couple of ways."

Supplying clean air can be as simple as having operable windows or displacement ventilation where air enters a person's workstation from under the floor and circulates out through a ceiling return carrying heat and pollution from machines away from people.

Breathing Life Into Designs

Designing sustainable commercial buildings is what William A. McDonough does. From his William McDonough+Partners office in Charlottesville, VA, he and his staff develop unique designs that "celebrate the abundance of nature: natural light, fresh air, diversity, life and creativity."

"I think we're going to see a move to design office buildings as life support systems for people who work, instead of work support systems for people who don't have a life," says McDonough, who was named "hero for the planet" by Time Magazine. "Windows don't open, air is not sweet and clean. Most materials used have to be questioned as to whether they were designed for indoor use. If you look at what we've been able to do recently, with the same budget, is deliver 100 percent fresh air to everyone in their breathing zone under their own control and daylight everywhere."

In San Bruno, CA, the Gap Inc. office building is a study in the McDonough philosophy. Its roofs are planted with natural grasses in six inches of soil that protect water proofing and provide thermal and acoustic insulation while creating an ecosystem for local birds. In Chicago, the firm designed the garden roof atop City Hall, and in Dearborn, MI, McDonough is working with Ford Motor Co. to turn its Rouge Plant into an environmentally sensitive industrial facility. Among other features, the plant's 454,000 square foot roof will be covered in natural grasses and local plants. Also, the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies at Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH, is fit with solar panels to produce more energy than it consumes.

Any wood used in McDonough's designs is harvested from sustainable forests, and in all of the buildings natural lighting is extensive.

Raising the Bar

With his partner, Dr. Michael Braungart, McDonough formed McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) to develop environmentally sensitive products. "The products/systems being put in buildings are being scrutinized from an air quality perspective," McDonough says. "We're developing new textiles and new furniture. We just announced our new totally recyclable nylon."

MBDC has also developed a new high-efficiency insulation that can get up to R-20 per inch and still be translucent, says McDonough. "We think it will revolutionize the glazing industry. We're having fun."

As these new technologies come to market they will continue to impact design, stretching the boundaries of form and function. If not for the new technologies in glass, a developer would not be able to design a building that looks like a sail.

"As these buildings come online they'll raise the bar for other buildings that follow," McDonough adds. "It's very difficult for a CEO, after you've explained these strategies, to say, 'oh no, please give me a toxic building.' It's a matter of education, being forthright, fearless and getting on with it."

Looking Ahead

Moving forward and being innovative is exactly what many real estate companies are doing, and this ties in with what architectural trends executives see continuing in 2002.

   "Flexibility will continue to be the underlying theme in development," says Mitchell Hersh, chief executive officer of Mack-Cali Realty Corporation. "Developers must be able to accommodate each company's unique requirements. This involves a wide range of areas including power supply, power and data redundancy, open column grids, large floorplates, high ceilings, and high-density floor loads, to name just a few."

While many of these requirements may have been considered optimal in the past, the flexibility to provide them is now considered standard, says Hersh. As in the past, changing tenant needs will dictate what design elements will be implemented.

"In the coming year, open space planning for a greater number of employees in the workplace will affect both interior and exterior aspects of office design," says Anthony Rimikis, senior vice president of development and construction, Brandywine Realty Trust. "With the increase in personnel, parking and facilities, such as bathrooms, will need to be larger and more accessible. In exterior design, buildings will adopt a more modern and upscale look that will incorporate more glass in the facade, allowing increased light for the interiors."

Innovation will not only be limited to new development. In the hotel industry, for example, a significant amount of work continues to be done enhancing existing buildings.

"For exterior renovations of older properties [more than 20 years], FelCor has started to concentrate on the use of multi-colored paint applications that concentrate on existing architectural details that seem to fade into the building facades," says June McCutchen, senior vice president of design and construction, FelCor Lodging Trust Incorporated. "The popular architecture of the 1980s was clean, contemporary and all one neutral color. We lean toward adding applied architectural details, new shapes added to parapets of the facade and we are working with our architectural consultants to find the best, lesser-expensive treatments going forward."

So, many of the same trends that have impacted architectural design in recent years—increased collaboration, environmental concerns and expanding tenant needs—will not only continue to shape the industry in 2002 but will alter the form and function of real estate for many years to come.