Beach life is erratic but casual. Urban life is demanding and aggressive. QTCT is tasked to blend these two identities onto one site—a give and take relationship between beach ambitions and urban necessities. To bring together these two opposing forces, the search for started with deriving form, materiality and feeling directly from the vernacular of the site and learning from its logic and traditions. Walking from beach to bay takes less than five minutes.
QTCT consists of six lots: four to the North and two to the South. Each lot is 25’ x 50’; remaining consistent with adjacent business and residential lot sizes. Alleyways for parking border each edge of the lots. A pedestrian bicycle path moves through the site linking it with the beaches. QTCT is a sampling of both worlds: on one hand it is the embodiment of the found language of the beach and on the other it is a detailed and exacting built urban space. A core kit of design elements and materials is adopted by the new structures. Hierarchies and relationships are accented among the units creating dynamic encounters and playful responses.
PROGRAM: Beach Housing
CONTEXT: San Diego, CA, USA
CRITIC: Tom Hartman
Walking from beach to bay takes less than five minutes. Residents and visitors alike have complete access across the sandbar to both beaches and therefore the residential neighborhoods become attractions themselves as one moves throughout the city. It’s a true pedestrian lifestyle. Bike paths connect ocean to bay with the central road as the only interruption to the flow. Surf shops and restaurants line the interior and beach front.
