Check out the link to the Los Angeles area modern architectural estate called “Pacific Palisades Residence” designed by Shubin and Donaldson Architects. We are pleased that this project is under construction and look forward to its completion!
Riot Games is a client we have been working with for the past few years as they’ve grown from a small office into hundreds of employees. We have designed various office types including edit bays, rendering farms, IT server rooms and all the support office spaces for a growing tech company. Check out the LA Times article below!
Our modern renovation and remodel of the 3388 Via Lido project in Newport Beach is under construction. Check out the renderings: http://shubinanddonaldson.com/via-lido-2/
Russell Shubin, S+D partner, has a nice write up and advice on where to hang and shop in current issue of LUXE. Click on link below, check out the article on page 80. -RD
Check out the postings about the recently opened offices S+D designed for LUNAR in San Francisco. Kudos to the S+D design team led by Senior Associate Mark Hershman. Check out the video.
Introducing LUNAR’s New San Francisco Studio from LUNAR on Vimeo.
One of our projects called Biscuit Filmworks is featured in a cool blog see the link below:http://remodelista.com/posts/steal-this-look-loft-kitchen-by-shubin-donaldson-in-hollywood
This speaking event is part of the “First Thursday” art walk http://www.santabarbaradowntown.com/go.asp and is sponsored by the SB County arts commission. Starts at 5:30pm in the County Building on Anacapa Street.
We had a brief “pop up” show of models and photos of our work at Edward Cella’s gallery in preparation for our book signing on 4.17.2010. http://www.edwardcella.com/html/home.asp
On Saturday Night, April 17 th Robin and Russell were thrilled to see a big turn out of our friends and clients for a book signing and brief talk at Edward Cella’s galleryhttp://www.edwardcella.com/html/home.asp on Wilshire Blvd in LA. We also had a “pop up” exhbition of photos and models of recent projects. Edward is a brilliant gallerist and he has a great eye for interesting architectural collectibles and fine art. thank you to Edward and staff for making this happen. Also to Julie Taylor and Oro Editions for all your support and great work on behalf of LIVE + WORK.
The next book signing will be in Santa Barbara at Chaucer’s books on Thursday May 20th 7-9pm. Robin and Russell will be doing a brief talk around 8pm.
LIVE + WORK on the shelf at Barnes and Noble at The Grove in W. Hollywood. Wedged in there between Frank Gehry and Phillip Johnson. Buy it now at: http://www.amazon.com/Live-Work-California-Architecture-Donaldson/dp/0979539552/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s;=books&qid;=1269280977&sr;=8-1
Robin Donaldson looks at one of the wooden lifeguard towers being stored at the city’s annex yard after they were replaced by fiberglass ones. Donaldson requested to purchase one from the city before they destroy them.
To read the full article published online on The Daily Sound click on the link below: http://www.thedailysound.com/051909lifeguardtower
Shubin + Donaldson acted as construction facilitators on this new restaurant and gourmet market located in downtown Los Angeles on the corner of 7th and Grand.
click here to view the Riviera Residence on our website:
http://www.shubinanddonaldson.com/project.php?f_cat_id=1&f;_id=12
These photos taken from a recent site visit to the Toro Canyon Residence show the Starfire glass beams being installed for the entry piece which will be constructed entirely from glass.
click here to view Saatchi & Saatchi on our website:
http://www.shubinanddonaldson.com/project.php?f_cat_id=4&f;_id=69
click here to view Ogilvy on our website:
click here to view Hydraulx on our website: http://www.shubinanddonaldson.com/project.php?f_cat_id=4&f;_id=45
Recently we made another successful furniture buying trip… this time with Brown and Mardi Cannon, owners of Lot 511 (pictured on the left). This photo was taken at our last stop on the trip and our clients were very happy to have found so many quality pieces of furniture for their new home. Will Rivera (center) who designed their home, assisted them in selecting their furniture, verifying sizes and making sure the time spent was productive and enjoyable. Karla (second from the right) helped coordinate the trip and her knowledge of vendors made this trip a success. Edgar (right) was our driver. Many of our clients have enjoyed these trips and we continue to provide this service for all of our clients.
Dear Greg,
We wanted to let you know how pleased we are with the progress on our home. Finton Construction Mexico gave us a schedule, a budget and amazingly (for a project in Mexico) you have managed the project to make both. We appreciate your care for our project and your commitment to quality of our home.
As you know, we were very careful about the selection of a builder to construct our home in Loreto Bay. Fortunately, we have built homes before and knew from prior experience the importance of having an experienced Custom Home builder with highly experienced and motivated on-site supervision. After considering the other available builders in Loreto Bay we selected Finton Mexico, and we are glad we did. No one else had the many years of experience building Custom Homes and the supervision of the project has exceeded our expectations. We also appreciate the weekly construction progress reports and the detailed billing summaries that fully explain all expenses related to our project.
We enjoyed coming down to Loreto Bay and meeting your family and all the team at the Finton Mexico Partners open house. The house tours were very informative as well. We look forward to our first margarita with you on the patio of our home when it is finished for the summer ….on time and on budget!
All the best,
Bill and Julie Thompson
Dear Robin, Russell, John and Dan,
I am writing to tell how happy I am with the performance of your construction team and the quality of the construction. As you know, I have been struggling to keep my enthusiasm for Loreto Bay, especially in light of the developer issues and the recent economic downturn. I have been second guessing myself and wondering if I am doing the right thing. But when I got down to Loreto and finally got to walk through my new home under construction I was thrilled to see the great design being realized into a real home! It was great to see the view from the courtyard overlooking the lake and the beautiful new golf course and mountains beyond. The pleasure of working with your team, seeing the quality and care of the construction, as well as the beauty of the site has reinvigorated me! I can hardly wait until my home is done.
Thank you so much for making this a pleasurable experience and for caring so much about the design and quality of construction for my home. Thank you for the weekly updates on the progress and for sticking to your construction schedule. I feel very fortunate that you guys are building my home, especially when I see what is happening on the other construction sites. Please allow me to be a reference for you with other clients.
Sincerely,
Kinsey Carpenter
After assessing the progress, the quality of work and the details that go into a custom home we were very impressed with the care and process that went into selecting subs, construction processes and transparency. Besides the open book accounting that I am used to nothing was left out and nothing was unaccounted for. Congratulations! a great job! With my background as consultant in setting up, building and improving efficiencies in free standing Ambulatory Surgical Centers, and having built a couple of homes in difficult regulatory and physical situations for our family, I can unconditionally recommend your services! I can say without hesitation that the team of Shubin and Donaldson and Finton Construction of Santa Barbara are the best I have seen in the building business and by far the best in Loreto Bay. It would likely take some time for other builders to train and build up a team of this proficiency that works so well with the Subcontractors. We are so glad we had this team build our home and allow us to become part of the team!
…Shenton Oh, MD MBA CPE
We are nearing completion on this 12,000 square foot renovation for Biscuit Filmworks, a film and commercial production company on Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood. The client purchased the building knowing they would have to provide a significant seismic upgrade, but were committed to an expensive proposition as they needed to consolidate their operations into a single building. The client was clear from the beginning of design discussions that he did not want this space to be a trendy “5 year” design. He felt it was important that if someone walked into the space that they could not tell if it was designed today or 50 years ago. He was also clear to state that he did not want it to be “old fashioned.” He is a modernist at heart, and wanted his space to reflect the strong but simple expression that has appealed to him with so much of modern design. Hopefully we have achieved that for him….
Location: Hollywood, California
Principal Architects: Russell Shubin, AIA, LEED AP, Robin Donaldson, AIA
Project Manager: Mark Hershman
Project Team: Chris Webb, Erik Schonsett
On Thursday February 19th the Shubin and Donaldson Santa Barbara office took a tour of a recently completed renovation of a John Elgin Woolf designed home in the hills of Montecito. The home was renovated by Gregg Wilson and his partner John Maienza.
http://www.kennedywilsonbuilders.com/gregg.htm
The estate is currently for sale and is listed by Suzanne Perkins.
http://www.suzanneperkins.com/portfolio/1478eastmountain/index.html
It was great to see a home by Woolf who’s design archive is currently housed at the UAM and had an exhibit at UCSB that was curated by my dear friend Kurt Helfrich.
Gregg gave us a tour of this immaculately renovated and restored home. They did a great job of respecting the spirit and intentions of the original design while updating and revising the interior floor plan to meet contemporary needs. The materials, detailing, and design features of the home are exquisitely executed by Gregg and John. In my mind, I felt the home was a great example of how a residence can blend a more historical style with a very modern design sensibility. The floor plan responds to the amazing site with spectacular views from every room and an emphasis on indoor-outdoor living. This is a design approach consistent with the design philosophy at Shubin and Donaldson. I felt this was a great way for our office to spend the lunch hour and appreciated Gregg taking the time to walk us through the home.
… Robin Donaldson AIA
Photos of John Elgin Woolf’s work on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/danmccarry/collections/72157604598283274/
article on John Elgin Woolf in current Vanity Fair
http://www.vanityfair.com/style/features/2009/03/john-woolf200903?currentPage=1
click here to view more images of Hydraulx on our website:
http://www.shubinanddonaldson.com/project.php?f_cat_id=4&f;_id=45
This project is a new 3,000 square-foot, single family residence on the Mesa in Santa Barbara, designed to respond to the client’s desire for a unique design on a tight site with sweeping mountain to ocean views. The massing becomes a study of how to respond to the building envelope described by the various setbacks and height limits on the property, creating simple shapes that when brought together create a dynamic overall form. The program is spread over three levels including a basement-level garage and media space. The ground-level encloses the master suite, second bedroom, and a living area which seeks to blur the line of interior and exterior with floor to ceiling glass and sliding glass doors leading to the patio and yard. The third-level houses the kitchen, family room, and deck which cantilevers out to shade the glass below and capture the stunning views. Each mass is rendered in a single material; concrete, wood slats, glass and metal screen.
click on the link below to view this project on our website:
http://www.shubinanddonaldson.com/project.php?f_cat_id=4&f;_id=69
Location: Torrance, California
Principal Architects: Robin Donaldson, AIA, Russell Shubin, AIA, LEED AP
Project Manager: Mark Hershman
Project Team: Reid Embrey, Bryan Flaig, Luiz Gomez, Keiko Okada, Chris Webb
Contractor: Sierra Pacific Constructors
Photographer: Tom Bonner
click here to view this project on our website:
http://www.shubinanddonaldson.com/project.php?f_cat_id=1&f;_id=68
Location: Bel Air, California
Principal Architects: Robin Donaldson, AIA, Russell Shubin, AIA, LEED AP
Project Architect: Ann-Sofi Holst
Project Team: Chris Garza, Luiz Gomez
Contractor: Porter Development
Photographer: Ciro Coelho
We are currently in the construction administration phase on this contemporary residential project in Toro Canyon in Santa Barbara County. The client for this project is also an architect and we have worked collaboratively. Due to it being in a “very high fire area” this project was designed with fire resistance as an important part of the design concept. Obviously the recent Tea fire has only helped to reinforce how important it is to design with fire resistance in mind. This 7,500 square foot residence is constructed of poured-in-place concrete walls with corrugated metal roofs. The house was designed with much consideration for the long sequence of arrival as one travels up through the canyon to get to the site. Upon arrival you enter a clearing which faces toward the ocean and descend on the house from above. The house was designed around this particular approach. The roofs were rigorously worked so that they are free of vents and other visual obstructions. The house is a configuration of two volumes that are connected in the middle with an entry piece made entirely of glass. The west volume contains the public living spaces, and the east volume contains the private part of the program. The project is scheduled to finish in July of this year and is being built by Paul Franz Construction. We have built many projects with Paul over the years and are happy to get to do another home with him and his crew.
… Robin Donaldson, AIA
click on the link below to view this project on our website:
click on the link below to view this project on our website:
http://www.sandarc.com/project.php?f_cat_id=4&f;_id=44
click on the link below to view this project on our website:
http://www.sandarc.com/project.php?f_cat_id=4&f;_id=43
click on the link below to view this project on our website:
In early October of last year, S+D Partner Russell Shubin and S+D Senior Architect Alan McLeod traveled to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to attend the Dubai Cityscape conference. We are currently working with Meraas Development on a number of projects there
http://www.meraasdevelopment.ae/en/projects-jgc.htm
and we wanted to attend the unveiling of the mega-development, of which we are a part. Held over four days, the conference exhibits over one thousand booths and is attended by sixty thousand people. The primary focus of the conference is on regional development, design, construction and sales. On the exhibition floor one can be impressed by the sheer volume of proposed development and then understand why model makers and computer renderers around the world had been so busy over the months leading up to the event. While in Dubai they also took time to meet with a number of other developers, explore the newer developments in the area and visit the “old town” and Jumeira (the proposed site of the Meraas Development). While much of Dubai remains a vast construction site, the finished work they saw had good quality workmanship looking past the often questionable style/aesthetic of the buildings.
This is the Burj Dubai which is expected to be the world’s tallest tower when it is completed in September this year. Its final height remains a secret in order to stave off competition, but it is suggested that it will top off at 818 m (2,684 ft). Miraculously, one floor is built once every four days. In the foreground you can see Dubai’s new rapid rail system ready for use.
A scale model of the Jumeira Gardens development that we are currently designing beachside villas for under Meraas Development.
Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Makthoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai (in yellow) and his entourage as they view the Jumeira Gardens model.
to view this project on our website click the link below.
to view this project on our website click on the link below.
After many conversations with people in our community regarding the recent Tea Fire it occurred to me that unwittingly we have worked on quite a number of projects out of the ashes of wildfire devastation; from the Painted Cave fire of 1990 here in Santa Barbara to the wildfire in Laguna Beach in 1993. These are a few of our phoenixes.
To view these projects on our website and to read more about them click on the link below:
… Robin Donaldson, AIA
I love looking out the airplane window. The forms and patterns on land generated by development and human culture interacting with the natural terrain are a great source of fascination for me. James Corner’s work evokes a new reading of landscape, site planning and the interaction between man and terrain. A close study of maps, surveys and aerial photos can render formal architectural strategies that integrate and respond to the land far beyond the property lines of any given project. Every project should include a study of the context via aerial photos, maps, surveys, and Nolli maps of development patterns. Our projects can respond by developing various strategies that include references to these contexts.
The Shaker map and the Thiebaud painting illustrate a region and culturally specific representation of built form. I have always appreciated Thiebaud’s pop sensibility that is perfect for California. Obviously the Shakers no nonsense approach to life is reflected in the map. Project by project we should look for ways of representing and presenting our architecture that is consistent with the concept of the project.
The Shaker map and the Thiebaud painting illustrate a region and culturally specific representation of built form. I have always appreciated Thiebaud’s pop sensibility that is perfect for California. Obviously the Shakers no nonsense approach to life is reflected in the map. Project by project we should look for ways of representing and presenting our architecture that is consistent with the concept of the project.
… Robin Donaldson, AIA
I have become more and more interested in pre-industrial buildings, developments, and forms. Particularly in the warmer regions of the planet where the climate is similar to the Southern California and Baja California areas for which we design most of our buildings. North Africa, the Mediterranean and the Middle East are places where ancient cultures learned to build in a way that made these hot and dry climates livable. Courtyards, heavy thick clay walls, and densely congregated structures were the forms that evolved in response to the climate and the materials available to the indigenous cultures. In these areas, cultures were forced to build in a very resource-efficient manner due to the limitations of technology and labor. My fascination with pre-industrial forms may be a bit of a knee jerk reaction to American industrialized society’s reverence for “technology and progress”, but pre-industrial cultures provide great lessons in timeless resource efficient design.
… Robin Donaldson, AIA
The above photo was taken Friday November 14, 2008 the morning after the Tea Fire in Santa Barbara, California. The photo shows an undamaged home that is surrounded by burned landscape and burned homes. This fire survivor is a home we designed and we call it the “Riviera Residence.”
Click here to view this project on our website:
http://www.shubinanddonaldson.com/project.php?f_cat_id=1&f;_id=12
I took the photo from below the home at the end of my street where I live with my family. We were evacuated the night before and early Friday morning I managed to get back to my home (which was untouched by the fire) and was anxious to see if the Riviera Residence survived. I knew it was surrounded by fire and burned homes and was quite thrilled to see it made it through the fire without any significant damage. We designed the home knowing that someday it had a very high chance of being in the path of a wildfire. The home was designed on the foundations of a home that was re-built after the Sycamore Canyon fire in the late 70’s. We knew as we designed the home that despite the relatively recent wildfire at this location there was still a very high probability of another fire raging through the site (though we never would have guessed how soon after finishing the home…less than 2 years). We had already had some experience with re-building homes after wildfires, and as an architect I have had the sobering duty and honor of working with families who have lost homes in California wild fires. Without asking for it, we have had real world education on fire resistant home design and the re-building process. The Riviera Residence is the first home that we have designed that has had a very real test of its fire resistance. In addition to the fire resistant design elements of this contemporary home design, the bulk of the credit for saving the home goes to Geoff Moore and Genie Gable our courageous and well prepared clients and homeowners. They had an evacuation plan and checklist that they calmly executed as the fire raced down Sycamore Canyon. After Genie drove away with all their essential belongings, Geoff stayed behind and started the active fire resistant devices installed to douse the house in water. He sprayed the home with their 100 feet of fire hose line until a wall of 50 ft. flames came over the home next door. At that point he left and the home was on its own. He came back the next morning to find his home intact.
I believe that a combination of all the active and in-active fire resistant features helped raise the odds that the home could survive. After all, with something as powerful and unpredictable as a wildfire the best you can hope to do is to tilt the odds in your favor. Unfortunately there is no single solution to fire resistant home design. I think it is best to combine active and in-active elements to have the best results.
If you are interested in seeing an online video of Genie, Geoff, and I discuss the fire, click on the link below. Our interview begins about half way through the video.
… Robin Donaldson, AIA
While Thom Mayne shot this image of the 2-4-6-8 house, several blocks away Richard Diebenkorn labored on his Ocean Park series. In the garage below a shaper built a surfboard while in Malibu Ron Davis cast his resin paintings. This was all going on while I finished my undergraduate studies at UCSB. I thought it was so cool that Thom did his own photography of his project and shot the house from the alley, power lines and all. He did it himself, with his own hands. Like an artist, or a surfboard builder he controlled the design and how the project would be represented to the world. He created his own version of reality. Diebenkorn abstracted a sunny Ocean Park afternoon into flat planes of color and he got to build his painting to communicate his view of the world.
As architects, we should fight for keeping our hands in our projects and how our projects are communicated to the world. If we could, we would pick up the plane and cut our own foam. Obviously constructing buildings is a completely different process than an artist making a painting. However, we need to learn to manipulate the standardization and industrialization of the construction industry to our unique voice. It is a fight, and most of our architectural heroes have done it.
…Robin Donaldson, AIA
Southern California in the 70’s. If only our architecture could be as cool and timeless as this page. It looks easy and unforced. The art on this page feels fully present, thought it was done many years ago. Vija Celmins meditative graphite work and Ruscha’s renderings capture the moment they were rendered, yet today they still feel relevant . Misrach’s photo is a great lesson in silence and isolation (like Kahn’s Salk institute). We do not need to be afraid of creating spaces that generate a sense of quite and isolation. There is not enough of that quality in the modern built world.
… Robin Donaldson, AIA
