June 9th, 2008 at the Neurosciences Institute the AIA San Diego Chapter held the 2008 AIA design Awards and the 15th and commercial project won a Merit award. The project received incredible comments from the jury members and other fellow architects.
Started in August 2006, 15th & Commercial is part of Father Joe's Villages. It's a mixed-use, 12-story building with three components that are designed to operate individually. Separate entrances and circulation systems are provided to ensure security. These uses are:
1. A day care facility primarily for the children of homeless families;
2. Transitional housing - a temporary living space that dignifies living arrangements in a dormitory setting, complemented by gathering, therapy, and communal facilities;
3. Affordable housing in the form of single room occupancy dwelling units that will provide a first form of permanent housing for homeless residents working to get back on their feet.
The project is currently in construction documents and in the City for plan check with a project completion date of June 2010.
Working on the project have been: David de Castro, Dave Stellar, Randi Stellar, John Muller, Kristin Shultz, Ben Anderson, Jian Hu, Tom Vorkoper, Rod McPherson, Tomasz Anielski, Doug Austin, and Randy Robbins.
“Lots of green materials are being incorporated into this building such as Trespa panels, Expo GX2 Stucco, with 10% post consumer recycled content, and green screen to name a few. We have lots of exterior terraces, super high efficiency glass, and top of the line mechanical systems. We are currently working with SDG&E Savings by Design and we have qualified for incentives. We're having a ⅛ scale model made and it's looking good. I'm very proud of this building, it'll be a really cool space.” ~ David de Castro
