Mogavero Architects

Trying to search for nothing are we?

Work

Mogavero Architects Offices

Mogavero Architects purchased the Sacramento Regional Builders Exchange (SRBX) office building Summer of 2018 and immediately began a comprehensive renovation of the property. After an extensive overhaul, we moved into the building in May of 2019. The classic mid-century modern building’s exterior was highlighted by window walls and detailed brick work, but the interior was outdated, with a variety of rooms and compartments throughout both floors that harkened back to the building’s original use. SRBX had been the sole tenant since the building was constructed in 1951. With multiple renovations and additions during their tenancy, the building lost functionality as a modern office space. They truly wanted to hand the property off to a steward, someone who would invest in and breathe new life into the space. Our firm was the only one with a creative vision for how to do so. The renovation included adding over a dozen skylights to improve daylighting, and walls were removed to create an open floor plan. The original windows were replaced with aesthetically congruent modern windows that maintained the original character of the building while meeting more current standards for energy use. Interior walls and closed offices were eliminated to create open space, a large glass-enclosed conference room was created, and lots of skylights were added to bring in more natural light. On the second floor, we removed the roof of the old board room for the SRBX to create a roof terrace with views and seating areas for staff to enjoy. A spacious kitchen was added. The final result looks very similar from the exterior, but feels completely different inside, transforming this older and languishing building into a modern open and airy office space, and a new home for Mogavero Architects.

Work

Bakersfield Downtown Charrette

Mogavero Architects worked with the City of Bakersfield to implement a Downtown Design Charrette. The charrette came out of a community driven process called Vision 2020. The visioning process had been active since May 1999, and over 12,500 participants have actively participated. The City of Bakersfield has experienced much adversity throughout its history. In the early 1900’s the town was devastated by a major earthquake and has also the unfortunate experience of burning down twice. Due to these disasters much of the historic foundational presence is no longer there. Through the charrette, Mogavero Architects developed images that reinforce the vision of downtown and include implementation strategy for the future. Mogavero Architects facilitated the workshops utilizing local architectural, landscape and planning professionals as well as the general public. The final product included: A discussion on the context of downtown’s place in the larger community; A discussion of the existing conditions and images for the year 2020; A discussion of how to get there through catalyst projects, opportunity site projects and other activities; Discussions on financing, implementation partners, and schedules for the implementation of the various projects. In addition, the community wanted to create additional parks, streetscape improvements, and allocate district uses for cultural elements, government use, educational use, and retailing. Entrances and additional downtown housing are also important components to this strategy. AWARDS The Bakersfield Charrette project received an Outstanding Planning Project Award from the Central California Chapter of the American Planning Association.

Work

Sierra Oaks Building

ENERGY EFFICIENT UPDATES Mogavero Architects’ scope of work included tenant improvements for 15,000 square feet of office space. This project involved a two-story office building with parking provided on a subterranean level and at the first floor office level. This building represents a practical response to the combination of an extremely tight site, typical parameters of cost and design for speculative office buildings, and rising SMUD electric rates. The south and west walls are wrapped with a screen wall that serve two functions. It shades the clear untinted glass and provides surfaces which allow the non-heat- generating component of the sunlight to bounce back into the building, increasing the natural light level in the workspace. SPECIALIZED APPROACHES Ecologically sensitive techniques were combined with products that also kept green principles in mind. • Energy efficient design • Infill site location • Natural daylighting features • Natural ventilation features • Window shading • 90% of the reinforcing bars were of recycled steel • Construction/demolition waste programs were in force throughout the project.

Work

WEST Apartments

LIVE WEST: The first residential project on the waterfront of the West Sacramento Bridge District. WEST Apartments is a mixed-use project on the Sacramento River across from Raley Field in West Sacramento. The project takes advantage of significant views overlooking the river, Tower Bridge, Raley Field and Downtown Sacramento. The five-story wood-framed building wraps a precast concrete parking garage. 287 residences consist of studios, 1, 2 and 3 bedroom units. Ground floor retail on Riverfront Street provides 8,000 square feet of active street frontage facing the Rivercats Baseball Stadium. The WEST building design features a special treatment of balconies at the building corners. The northwest corner features the main residential entry and a retail plaza at Riverfront and Ballpark. The building corner is capped with a trellis element over a common space terrace on the fifth floor. The project has a variety of private, common, and public open spaces. The private outdoor space around the pool is embraced within the northeast wing of the building. An ornamental iron fence is designed for views to the river and Riverwalk, while also providing a level of privacy and security for the residents. Open spaces on the east side of the project will be integrated into the landscape of the Riverwalk.

Work

SMUD 59th Street Corporation Yard

Redevelopment of the 59th Street Corporation Yard is a very unique opportunity for SMUD, the immediate neighborhoods and the Greater Sacramento Region. SMUD has for decades been among the most engaged promoters of sustainable development practices in the region. That activity has logically been primarily in the realm of energy efficiency for buildings and process activity. With substantial changes in the economics for alternate energy generation and with state mandates for zero net energy in 2020 and 2030, the need for regional leadership in building energy efficiency has diminished. The need for leadership falls dominantly in the realm of reducing auto dependency. This is a need for which the Corp Yard Redevelopment is optimally positioned to address. Correspondingly, the Light Rail System is completely contained within SMUD’s boundary. A corollary value for SMUD’s in promotion of transit oriented development is that it will increase the percentage of regional growth (ratepayers) captured within the district boundary.

Work

Bartlett Commons at The Cannery

Bartlett Commons has won the 2019 Gold Nugget Grand Award for Best Affordable Housing Community (30-60 du/acre), by the Pacific Coast Builders Conference. The community was also honored with a 2018 National Association of Home Builders’ Best in American Living Award, Gold in the Affordable Multifamily category. CFY Development, Inc.’s Bartlett Commons has also received recognition by the Sacramento Business Journal for a 2018 Best Real Estate Projects Award. As part of California’s first farm-to-table new community, The Cannery in Davis, residents benefit from the amenities in the immediate area. Public parks, bike and walking pathways, and a working 7-acre farm are available to tenants; and the adjacent market and Town Center are easily accessible for restaurants and shopping. Bartlett Commons’ affordable one, two and three bedroom apartments, feature 62 rental units. The 2,000 square foot community building with on-site property management, fitness room, classroom and laundry facilities opens to a central courtyard with a playground for children. In line with Davis’ sustainability and environmental focus, The Cannery community began with low-impact land use. The site is the former home of the Hunt-Wesson Tomato Cannery, and its central location is just minutes from UC Davis and downtown Davis. The urban farm surrounding the neighborhood provides residents and local restaurants with fresh seasonal produce, and with help from the Center for Land Based Learning, provides agriculture classes to beginning farmers. Half the units in the project are accessible by applying Universal Design principles and installing an elevator and breezeways between buildings. The proximity to the City of Davis’ network of bicycle and pedestrian paths make it easy for residents to maneuver through the area, providing for less vehicle use. The project exceeds the requirement of one bicycle parking space per bedroom, and provides a variety of parking options for bikes with carts. The buildings are designed with tuck-under parking that shield the view of parking from the surrounding neighborhood.  

Work

UOP Calaveras Hall Student Housing

Calaveras Hall is latest student housing project on the University of the Pacific campus for Second Year Students. The project houses 381 students in 141 apartment units in two 4-story buildings. The buildings have the feel of a place of higher education, providing for informal interaction with a variety of learning opportunities through differing levels of interface and collaboration. The project unites with the UOP Campus through its architecture, color, materials and pedestrian connections to the main campus. The design reflects esthetic references to the materials and architectural responses of the 1920’s Collegiate Gothic style buildings on campus. The building is of its time without attempting to recreate one of the older campus structures. It succeeds in its connection to the old while communicating an exciting, interesting building for a new generation of students. The visual and physical connection across the river from the main campus helps stitch together the two sides of the university grounds through an entry tower and plaza which functions as a landing point on the north side of the bridge spanning the Stanislaus River. The connectivity to the broader San Joaquin Valley and Delta region is demonstrated through its response to the climate and the landscape which integrates with the adjacent river habitat. The building design is a distinct representation of its residential character while clearly identifying the different programmatic elements within the project. The main “events” of the building are emphasized through form and materials. The tower at the East Entry serves as a beacon to connect the north side of campus across the river. In association with the East Entry tower, a colonnade clearly demonstrates the path of the entry sequence from the east plaza to the main entry point at the center of the linear site. The North Entry is a secondary entrance from the parking area and is an outward face to edge of campus across the recreation fields. The tower form reflects the design of the main East Entry, but at a more modest scale. The common spaces at the heart of community are visually prominent upon approach from the main campus. These congregation areas on the ground floor of the southern wing are identified with greater transparency and a loggia which wraps the spaces, providing a shaded, protected space to congregate during rainy days or the during the hot months in the San Joaquin Valley.

Work

The Lohse Apartments

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) Sacramento honors Mogavero Architects and Mercy Housing California for our work on The Lohse Apartments as the 2019 Suburban Project of the Year. The Lohse Apartments in the City of Roseville accomplishes the goals of the “Downtown Specific Plan” with new residential development, facilities to support the entertainment district, and enhancement of the civic core with restaurants, and retail. The Mercy Housing development is located on one of the catalyst sites identified by the City as priority for implementation of their Downtown Specific Plan. The 4-story building with a total of 58 residential units sits over subterranean parking. The central outdoor court, and the first floor common area have many amenities for the residents. In addition, 2,500 square feet of commercial space is available for retail use. The project was designed to intensify the development footprint along Vernon Street in Downtown Roseville. The design emphasizes a substantial urban scale with larger volumes and more formal brick materials. The building height along the streets is increased along Vernon and Bulen Streets to transition to a more urban district. The design diminishes in scale as it moves from Vernon Street to the alley to recognize the lower scale of the existing uses across the alley and the lowering of the land elevations towards the alley. This is accomplished by reducing the number of stories, and scale of volumes. 150 feet of the 235 linear feet of The Lohse Apartments’ frontage has commercial and active common areas, with a corner pace for outdoor café seating at the ground level. The retail spaces are set back five feet from the sidewalk with a projected canopy above to allow for outdoor sales or additional café seating. The building management office space provides excellent surveillance of the street, building access circulation and common areas. Associated with the main entry to the residential community is space that can function for community events. This common space can be expanded to include the foyer, multipurpose room, or circulation space for special occasions such as Downtown Roseville’s monthly art event. The residential units were designed to have maximized light quality and natural ventilation, with a large percentage of corner units. All units have mechanically augmented nighttime ventilation cooling to take advantage of the cooler nighttime summer temperatures. The City of Roseville created a video highlighting The Lohse and further development projects, including mention of Main Street Plaza also designed by of Mogavero Architects. Check it out here: City of Roseville Video View our blog about the Grand Opening of The Lohse and the artwork displayed throughout the building.

Work

Lavender Courtyard

Mogavero Architects is proud to have designed Sacramento’s first LGBT-friendly affordable senior housing development. Located in vibrant Midtown — close to transit, downtown and nearby Lavender Heights — Lavender Courtyard by Mutual Housing California will provide 50+ energy efficient residential units for an aging population often displaced by rising housing costs and marginalized in mainstream senior facilities. We believe sustainable design has the power to extend beyond the building envelope and into the heart and soul of community.  This project will transform a vacant and blighted lot into a place for social service, meal delivery, potential commercial use, community events, cultural heritage, social engagement, landscape, and energy production while providing a safe, and comfortable home for all its residents. Everyone deserves the opportunity to thrive in place — regardless of income, identity, age or race. We welcome this new addition to our portfolio and much more importantly, to our community. SPECIALIZED APPROACHES Supports healthy Urban Communities Urban infill and transit oriented development Designed around common rooms and a courtyard to enhance community and social engagement Pedestrian and bicycle friendly Ground floor common and commercial street frontage enhances economic opportunity and community interaction Attractive, modern design Promotes safety, comfort and liveliness for residents and neighbors Reduced Impact on environmental resources Focus on reduced energy consumption Designed to achieve zero net energy Designed to achieve rooftop solar PVs Designed to achieve laundry-to-landscape graywater irrigation system Water efficient landscape design Passive solar design approach Natural ventilation On-site storm water management Sustainable streetscape design Check out the following media links for more information: https://www.comstocksmag.com/web-only/lavender-courtyard-will-be-central-valleys-first-affordable-housing-community-lgbtq-seniors http://www.mutualhousing.com/supportive-neighborhood-heart-lavender-courtyards-community/ http://www.mutualhousing.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Weinberg-Foundation-press-release-Weinberg-FINAL.pdf http://amp.sacbee.com/news/local/article220879475.html https://issuu.com/outwordmagazine/docs/603_beach_rats_web  

Work

West Gateway Place

2017 Platinum Winner – NAHB’s Best in American Living Awards 2018 Gold Nugget Award of Merit – PCBC Best Affordable Housing Community Comprised of studios, one and two bedroom residences, West Gateway Place is a 77 unit, family, affordable, mixed-use community in West Sacramento’s Bridge District. The buildings present an entry to the City of West Sacramento and the master planned Bridge District, that includes the Rivercats Baseball Stadium and downtown. Located on the approach to the city’s famed Tower Bridge and the State Capitol, the buildings are the first significant structure upon entrance to the City. The alternating colors of the north elevation with deep shadows and white “fins” are intended to offer an interesting change of elevation. West Gateway Place was the first affordable housing development to finish construction that was funded by “Cap & Trade” funding (California’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund) through the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program. The mixed-use, infill development is located near public transit, bike paths, pedestrian walkways, shopping and other amenities that easily allows residents to be car-free, saving them money and sparing the air from pollution. A strong tower element design at the corner of Tower Bridge Gateway (TBG) and Grand Street, along with an elevated café-retail terrace, welcome residents and visitors to the Bridge District’s west entry. The mixed-use building offers 4,000 square feet of retail space with dedicated parking tucked under the building directly connected to TBG. Two buildings, each 4 stories tall, enclose a central courtyard with seating and a play area. Individual balconies, common laundry space, and the community room lounge open onto the courtyard to provide a healthy connection to the active spaces.