McCullough Designers Select the “Best Of” for 2019
City of San Diego | Mission Bay North, De Anza Cove Wildest C3 Master Plan
David McCullough, ASLA, PLA
Principal Landscape Architect
The sheer complexity of this project—a real challenge—was why I chose this master plan project. With the various stakeholders involved, political opinions, self and self-less interests, technical challenges, personal opinions (the list goes on), this project consumed many hours of consideration, strategy, collaboration and compromise. This is what I thrive on. It’s like a complex puzzle with thousands of pieces; the process was fun, invigorating and inspiring. And on top of that, the cause was pure and sincere.
My overriding goal throughout was to not compromise on the things that mattered for the greater good of the community.
As an individual who has been working in the profession now for nearly 30 years, I believe I had many tools and lessons from experience to bring to the process. All and all, it was an incredible experience. It is an honor to say I took a small part in this historic effort and I look forward to watching and participating as the process unfolds over time.
Project Background
In late 2014, the City of San Diego embarked on a community effort to prepare an amendment to the Mission Bay Park Master Plan. The project required necessary changes to Mission Bay’s northern end, commonly known as De Anza Cove. The lease was expiring for an RV campground called “Campland on the Bay” and the adjacent mobile home park on the De Anza Cove peninsula.
The city’s staff hired professionals to coordinate with the community and to facilitate a technical study of the area. Many local organizations formed a coalition for environmental research and to assist in an approach that community leaders desired for a long-term sustainable outcome. The coalition established Rewild Mission Bay to address these issues. The Rewild Mission Bay initiative included San Diego’s most notable environmental organizations, including the San Diego Audubon Society, San Diego Coastkeeper, Surfrider Foundation, Sierra Club San Diego and Citizens Coordinate for Century 3 (C3).The organization received research funding and assistance from the Coastal Conservancy, Recourses Legal Fund and from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Their task was to prepare a feasibility study for an environmental solution for the De Anza Cove.
The scientific research and planning formulated the “ReWild Mission Bay: Wetlands Restoration Feasibility Study Report.”
Read the full report here →
The main concepts that were considered were—“wild”, “wilder,” and “wildest,” with the “wildest” plan chosen as the preferred option, as it served the community in the best possible way.
However, the concept was missing a land-use plan, which the city required and was part of the environmental impact report (EIR). This report was key to move the project forward and help identify potential environmental impacts to the project. This process would lead to a more holistic final amendment to the Mission Bay Master Plan.
In early 2019, I was contacted by a board member of C3, Kristen Victor of Sustainability Matters, who is a primary contributor of the city’s adopted climate action plan. Together with Kristen, McCullough was retained to prepare a land use and site master plan for the “wildest” concept. Throughout the year long process, we met monthly with coalition members, coastal commissioners, scientists from the USD, community leaders and activists. As a result, we developed a comprehensive land-use plan that met the objectives for the City of San Diego’s Mission Bay Master Plan, which was adopted in 1994, amended in 1995, 1997 and in 2002.
In mid-2019, at the request of the coalition and as a result of a loud outcry from the community, the San Diego City Council recommended that the “wildest” plan be utilized in the pending EIR process as one of the three options considered for the property. A project of this nature can sometimes take many years to vet and then adopt. The plans may go through many evolutions with the final execution taking decades.
Pinnacle at Millenia | Chula Vista
Eric Tran, ASLA
Studio Team Leader
This project for Meridian Communities is an urban meets suburban community found within the ever-growing urban village of Millenia in Chula Vista. Pinnacle at Millenia boasts an array of amenities to satisfy the diverse community, such as a recreational center with pool, a fully fenced-in dog park, tot lot, a linear passive park and a great number of trees to help soften and scale down the pedestrian experience within the neighborhood.
It is always our goal to connect with our clients to ensure we are designing and developing meaningful spaces that not only suit the end-user, but also maintain the soul, grit and style in our design.
I chose this project because we could do this effortlessly with Meridian Communities.
Our team designed a planting palette that embodies the soul and style of the firm with tangible elements to offset softness of the landscape.
Our close collaboration with the Meridian Communities on many of their projects enhances our ability to do our best work. This project was no exception. Pinnacle at Millenia opens this year and we cannot wait to see the community engage within the landscape.
InvivoGen Corporate Campus | Sorrento Valley
Naby Miller, ASLA
Senior Associate
I chose this project because it falls in line with our purpose to create meaningful spaces and is a great example of true collaboration between client and our design team.
With an increased need for work-life balance, tech companies continue to develop campuses that provide unique amenities designed specifically to keep their employees happy and productive.
InvivoGen joins those setting an example of what can be done to enhance a corporate office environment. The company has taken a unique triangular class “A” building and turned it into a state-of-the-art creative research and development lab with views to the outdoors in every direction.
After the building was remodeled, the company’s president and CEO asked us to develop an outdoor amenity space to serve their employees. Our design features a fully functional outdoor meeting space which is ideal for impromptu collaborative work sessions, comfortable lounge seating for lunch breaks and flexible space for their corporate events.
Park and Broadway | San Diego
Maha Balachandran, International ASLA
Associate, Northern California office
Park and Broadway is a high-rise, mixed-use retail, restaurant and housing development located in the heart of Downtown San Diego.
Developer Broadway Park knows the value of providing landscape as social spaces within high density living. We reimagined the site entry and transformed the podium plaza.
The play of pedestrian walkways and landscaped areas crafting multiple levels of elevated porches make Park and Broadway my personal favorite of 2019.
By bringing the retail and restaurant spaces “inside and out,” the plaza was designed to be flexible to serve the occupants’ needs. An alley of trees along the ramp emphasizes the pedestrian entry. The hanging gardens and green walls align with the building balconies and the wall along the garage entry. Our approach was to create an immersive, integrated design to better impact and articulate the architecture.
The landscape includes new streetscapes and three roof gardens. An elaborate roof garden for the residents was designed with amenities including firepits, BBQs and trellis-shaded dining areas along with turf-clad lounge areas. Formal plant beds with ornamental grasses distinguish the boundaries of the amenities. A pool/spa is provided on the skydeck with a lounge area, providing an urban window to the beautiful view of the downtown skyline. The landscape stimulates the vibrant city for many to enjoy!
Ariel Towers | San Diego
Johanna Mall, ASLA
Junior Associate
My favorite project of 2019 was a moss green wall installed at the Ariel Towers located downtown San Diego. This ornamental entry wall was a small project, but a great example of the wide variety of projects that we tackle at McCullough. In California’s immense efforts to conserve, water features in urban settings have become largely frowned upon. Our client wanted to transform a large vertical water feature into something that reflects California’s values today. A few design options and many iterations later led to this wooden slat composition with moss as the low maintenance plant material. It was truly amazing how our design was handed off and built in two days!
Because the moss on the new wall was not placed exactly the way it was rendered in Photoshop, it was a good lesson that technology is just a tool to assist in the design process and we must not get carried away with the seductive idea of perfection. It was through the imperfections of the design, followed by the installation that we learned to embrace the true grit of a design – a form of art and creativity.
Valley View Casino and Hotel | Valley View
Armando Silva, ASLA
Associate
Nestled along the Hellhole Canyon Preserve in Valley Center lies a hidden gem, the Valley View Casino and Hotel. This four-acre site has had multiple renovations over the last 20 years, of which McCullough has been involved in all three projects. This past year an important renovation took place with architect, Delawie which added a new addition to the building and a major revamp of the site. As project manager for the new site design, I dove into a stringent schedule to see the final phase come to fruition. The construction phase lasted nearly a year, the demand was high for me to do site visits to make sure every detail was supervised. The result was an unforgettable learning experience.
The design was inspired by its surroundings with characteristics of the large angular boulders with native and lush landscape reflected in the design. The angular Corten steel planter beds, weathered steel, ground cover, planting and hardscape all represent the surrounding landscape. With such a unique design, the attention to detail was imperative. Coordinating the steel planter walls was a challenge as they had to be perfectly angled. I was there as the panels were placed to make sure that the differing heights lined up and that the seams became invisible. Placement of footings and posts for the walls had to be welded and strategically placed so that they would be in the correct place. Finding the fill side of the planter would hide this detail and cutting the post to follow angles was critical.
The large multi-trunk California Sycamore tree placed under the new breath-taking porte-cochere ceiling opening required some orchestral maneuvers.
With a combination of a bobcat and pneumatic telehandler, the tree was tilted at a 90-degree angle and wedged right into place. These moments are what inspire us to design and create soulful, meaningful places. My passion to design comes from being on a project site and to face the obstacles and overcome them—that is my grit.
8840 Complex Drive | Kearny Mesa
Alex Wade, ASLA
Junior Associate
From start to finish, this project took over two years from concept design to demolition, construction and to administration. Then to see the project that was recently completed was very satisfying for me. The site consisted of 12,800sf.
To see the fruits of our labor while knowing the work we’ve done to accomplish the build, coordinating with our team, and pleasing the client are my favorite parts of what we do at McCullough.
There were times when the project really challenged us; nevertheless, we solved these challenges and the project was a great success. It was rewarding to see my design take shape and to command the landscape around a fresh, new warehouse building. Originally built for commercial use, the entire site was demolished. Because of this change of use from commercial to industrial, the site required a lot of research, including the parking requirements for the truck-loading dock, as well as BMP requirements and corresponding plantings. With little available landscape to work with, the two retention basins were tough to fit on the site. The civil engineers at BDS Engineering were very accommodating with our design, and we worked closely with them to create the proper water retention and drainage.
Although the scale of the building outweighs the initial planting design, a few years and some patience will allow the planting to encapsulate the building properly. Budget is always a big concern and one that I take seriously. Therefore, we chose to use smaller sized plantings. Touching on all facets of landscape design, I addressed the entire construction documentation from start to finish, which I’m really proud of. All-in-all, I learned a lot on this project and am happy with the outcome. I’m excited to see how it will blossom in future seasons.
ULI’s Upcoming Women’s Leadership Event
McCullough is Proud to be 2020 Platinum Sponsors
of the ULI San Diego-Tijuana Chapter!
ULI is an important organization for McCullough to support as we have a similar vision: Each environment unveils a unique narrative embodying creativity, diversity, discovery and conservation. We also encourage women to grow their influence in the A/E/C industry. Therefore, we are happy to support the ULI Women’s Leadership Symposium. This outstanding event will be held on Thursday, 3:30-6:30 p.m., January 23, 2020 at Farmer and the Seahorse. (One of our favorite projects.)
The event’s theme is “Self-Advocacy: How to be an Agent of Your Own Success” and will feature Ann Marie Houghtailing as the keynote speaker.
Learn how to act on your own behalf with the same persuasive power you use on behalf of others. Know what you want and how to get it.
Don’t miss this exclusive ULI San Diego-Tijuana event.
Register today.→