Pacific Heights, San Francisco. Content forthcoming.
Photography: Suzanna Scott
New construction. A collaboration with Jacobschang Architecture. Phase: Permitting
Eloquently nested amidst native grasses and old growth cypress trees on the Bay Area’s beloved Mount Tam, 185 Summit is barely visible to passers by. The 2-story, 2,870 square foot single family residence and accessory in-law unit celebrates its natural surroundings and historic character of Mill Valley, using elemental materials and a low-slung terraced layout covered in native plants to extend the landscape and create a sanctuary within rather than make a statement to its neighbors.
Consistent with Mill Valley’s stringent design guidelines and community review, the challenge of this project was negotiating the existing slope and 25’ height limit from the existing grade, with zero soil off haul. This was achieved through a series of retaining walls, limited to 6 feet above grade, establishing terraces with permeable surfaces of crushed granite and planters to account for drainage.
Board form concrete, dark wood, louvered screens, and dark bronze window frames blend into the shaded landscape and dark overgrowth. The modular layout surrounds an internal courtyard and creates interior bays oriented towards the outside and maximizing natural ventilation throughout the space.
Stanley Saitowitz | Natoma Architects Inc.
PROJECT TEAM
Principal: Stanley Saitowitz
Partner: Neil Kaye
Project Architect: Michael Luke
Project Designer: Teresa McWalters
Photography: Brad Knipstein and Meghan Caudill
Unity has emerged as the world’s most ubiquitous real-time 3D development platform for developers across industries. As a community of developers and engineers themselves, Unity’s passion for pushing the envelope of user experience to virtual and augmented realities around the globe is echoed in their interest in creating authentic physical spaces, sensitive to their local context and specific work culture of each employee base.
Like their Montreal location, Unity’s Copenhagen location, boasts a historically unique existing structure to house its state of the art technology development. Situated in the heart of Copenhagen's characteristic winding streets and vibrant, cafe-lined squares, Unity found a home in a historic building that once served as the Savings Bank for Copenhagen, built in 1870. Exuding historic expression, once again, this Unity project became a game of highlighting the raw and historic texture of the strip-down existing skeleton with a sophisticated, contemporary Scandinavian aesthetic.
Light touches of color thread the high contrast play between dark and light, raw and polished. Great care was taken during CA to maintain select walls as “unfinished” to further heighten the tension between old and new. Idiosyncratic “found” moments, resulting from the confluence of new hard wall meeting rooms with existing forms, are celebrated as physical manifestations of Unity’s unique role bridging physical and digital human experiences.
Longlisted | Large Interior Workspace
PROJECT TEAM
Account Director: David Gallulo
Design Director: Mike Dubitsky
Senior Designer: Teresa McWalters
Designer: Nicholas Tedesco
ARCHITECTS OF RECORD: Årstiderne Arkitekter
Drawing from San Francisco’s undulating topography and the unique visual impression of geometric boxes strung along sweeping vistas, 603 Tennessee’s distinct order of folded window bays expresses a cadence and energy derived from the city itself. The aesthetic principles and functional attributes of the project are emblematic of Natoma Architect’s primary foci - establishing the contemporary aesthetic of San Francisco’s urban fabric, meanwhile attending to the spatial demands and construction efficiencies for more economical housing.
This project is a mixed-use residential building, containing 24 dwelling units, a ground floor PDR, art gallery, and working spaces. The plan order is a derivative of the shot-gun style row housing type, aggregated to create the building mass. Each unit has its own full-height bay window, angled to maximize floor area, views, and privacy between units. Currently under construction. Construction photos courtesy of Natoma Architects.
Stanley Saitowitz | Natoma Architects Inc.
PROJECT TEAM
Principal: Stanley Saitowitz
Partner: Neil Kaye
Project Architect: Michael Luke
Project Designer: Teresa McWalters
Model: Austin Tsai
Content forthcoming.
Photo Credit: Mike Jacobs
PROJECT TEAM
Partners: Mike Jacobs and Sari Chang
Project Coordinator: Jocelyn Oppenheim
Project Designer: Teresa McWalters
General Contracting: Flanzer Construction
Structural Engineering: D.B. Bennett
Unity has emerged as the world’s most ubiquitous real-time 3D development platform for developers across industries. As a community of developers and engineers themselves, Unity’s passion for pushing the envelope of user experience to virtual and augmented realities around the globe is echoed in their interest in creating authentic physical spaces, sensitive to their local context and specific work culture of each employee base.
Their home in Montreal is a space that expresses Unity’s common attributes as a global company, while catering specifically to the historic context and local milieu of their locale. Core to the design principles of this project are context, community, and connection. The historic gravitas of the existing copper mill that creates the skeleton of their space, provides a rich backdrop of texture and rawness that grounds the subtle touches of light and color in a space that feels warm and welcoming but also sophisticated and independent. Exposed ducts, conduits, and pipes are integral to the aesthetic expression of the space, highlighted in some cases as an artifact of old amidst new.
The expansive 40,000 square foot layout is broken by meeting room and phone booth “boxes”, framed with LED lights to draw attention and light into the middle of the massive floor plates, create scaled neighborhoods of workstations and open collaboration areas, and provide pacing to the vast length of each wing.
Employ entrances are marked by “airlock” chambers that aim to play with perception and create an experiential cleansing moment as employees come and go between wings. Inspired by the work of James Turrel, each “airlock” is designed with an RGBW LED strip light cove that casts an indirect light to illuminate the space with pre-set colors, coordinated with subtle background sounds.
The project was completed in October 2018
PROJECT TEAM
Account Director: David Galullo
Design Director: Mike Dubitsky
Senior Designer: Teresa McWalters
Designers: Ashlynne Camuti and Yeuchen Yu
Architect of Record: Figurr Architects Collective
In the very shadow of University of California, Berkeley’s campus, the context surrounding this particular site is extremely dynamic and diverse. In that context, the project aims to establish a contained clarity of its own, drawing from aesthetic elements of the broad spectrum of architecture surrounding it to create a coherent but quiet presence.
Contains 56 student residential units, a common area, and outdoor space, the envelope of the building is an expression of the collection of residences within; unified by a gridded frame which holds the pieces that form the units, creating commonality. The gracious garden entry sequence is a node to the residential vernacular of single family arts and crafts style homes in the area, and the transparent ground floor, hosting the common space, is a visual bridge between the life inside and the vibrant street activity outside.
The proportions and stature of Durant Residences mirrors that of multi-unit residences surrounding the campus and holds its own, next to its immediate neighbor: the massive and historic poured concrete form of UC Berkeley's original Art Museum. Special attention was paid to the cladding material selection - Equitone fiber cement panels - specified for their visual connection the tone and texture of the Art Museum.
I worked closely with the Project Architect and Partner to complete the design documentation, permitting process, and construction documentation set.
Photo Credit: Stanley Saitowitz | Natoma Architects Inc.
Stanley Saitowitz | Natoma Architects Inc.
PROJECT TEAM
Principal: Stanley Saitowitz
Partner: Neil Kaye
Project Architect: Michael Luke
Project Designers: Teresa McWalters and Mark Holmquist
Content forthcoming.
Photo Credit: Mike Jacobs
PROJECT TEAM
Partners: Mike Jacobs
Project Designers: Will Choi and Teresa McWalters
Mike Jacobs, Will Choi, Teresa McWalters.
General Contractor: AM Design Build, Sven Armster
Structural Engineer: A Degree of Freedom
Six outdoor lifestyle brands and their global corporate headquarters united under one roof, experientially linked by their commitment to and inspiration from nature. The Global VF Corp Headquarters, located in downtown Denver, in an early-2000s mid-rise office building. The completed project hosts over 11,000 associates and executive leadership across VF and six of their most well-known outdoor brands.
The project’s conceptual core is an homage to Colorado geography and native landscape within the larger context of different biospheres around the globe. The vertical assent through the 10-story building is defined by unique expressions of four altitudinal zones - Foothill, Montane, Alpine, and Nival - creating distinct but common aesthetic moods throughout the social hubs of the space.
VF is a purpose-lead company. Integral to the design of their HQ are moments for connection. Connection to the great outside and spirit of exploration; connection to innovation and the creative process; connection across brands and supply chains; connection to people and the end consumer. Details that establish touch-points for connection - from digital messaging to custom altitude markers embedded in the floor - offer moments of surprise throughout the space.
Creative teams of garment design innovation and development dominate the workspace with the palpable energy of idealization and prototyping. Every aspect of the workspace - from custom barn doors to ceiling fixtures - is designed to celebrate the maker-culture and creative synergies within and between the brands. VF’s global reach is underscored by cutting-edge AV/IT integration and digital experiences.
This project was completed through a partnership with local teams: OZ Architecture, Saunders Construction, Downstream; and San Francisco-based Rapt Studio and DNA. A LEED Platinum project.
Interior Design Magazine, September 8, 2021
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Location: Denver, CO
Year: 2020
Type: Interior Design
Scale: 285,000 sqft
Design Frim: Rapt Studio
Photography: Eric Laignel
PROJECT TEAM
Account Director: David Galullo
Design Director: Mike Dubitsky
Senior Designer: Teresa McWalters
Project Designers: Ashlynne Camuti, Nicholas Tedesco, Jack Soloman
Designers: Serena Abouchar, Yeuchen Yu
Graphic Designer: Frederique Gravier, Brett Su
Architect of Record: OZ Architecture
General Contractor: Saunders Construction
AV/IT Innovation and Content: DNA and Downstream
AWARDS
ENR Best Project Interior/Tenant Improvement, Award of Merit Safety
2020 Downtown Denver Partnership Award
LEED Platinum Certified
Fitwel
Defining San Francisco’s SOMA urban fabric are the prominent and proud 1920-1930s multi-story warehouse building type. Distinguished by their honest representation of structure, their gridded concrete frame facades and heavy timber construction allow for vast open floor plates and gaping windows. These historic urban artifacts, designed for efficiency, have been rightly reappropriated to serve modern urban purposes of workplace, retail, and live/work residence.
340-350 11th Street is a contemporary interpretation of this workhorse building type, employing lighter and more efficient construction methods to expound on the experiential attributes inherent to its heritage. To achieve the balance of lightness and strength, the exposed structure is a combination of steel and engineered timber. All mechanical systems run the length of the two exposed facades so that the floor plates remain open. Maintaining this open floor plan, all fixed services, stairs and elevator core are contained on either party wall end.
A transparent two-story arcade creates a threshold between street and commercial or restaurant use. The lofted clerestory on the top floor ties the opposite party walls together and offers a flood of natural light into the workspace.
The project is currently under construction.
Stanley Saitowitz | Natoma Architects Inc
PROJECT TEAM
Principal: Stanley Saitowitz
Partner: Neil Kaye
Project Architect: Michael Luke
Project Designers: Teresa McWalters and Mark Holmquist
This 3,000 square-foot single-family home in Bridgehampton, Long Island, was inspired by the picturesque landscape of the property and the “connected farm” vernacular of historic New England estates. Four intersecting volumes establish the primitive form that meanders across the transverse axes of the site. Each volume rotates to accommodate circulation between programmed spaces, maintaining circulation on the exterior facing sides at all times.
The form was conceived through an iterative investigation of roof, wall, and floor systems that maintained an intimate nesting within the surrounding trees and gently sloping topography. A light frame construction with full-height glazing walls and expressed beams follow the circulation path, emphasizing the relationships between structure and form, inside and outside, dwelling and nature.
Status: unbuilt
PROJECT TEAM
Principal: Brad Cloepfil
Associate Principle: Brent Linden
Project Architect: Peter Storey
Project Designer: Teresa McWalters
