San Pedro - Sepulveda Street Lofts
This project proposes a collection of (4) 3 story 1500sf town house units in one building. The site is located in San Pedro, California on a 40' x 150' lot. The lot is zoned RD 1.5 = 1 Unit/1500sf of lot area with setbacks of 5' on the sides and 15' on the front and back allowing for 4 units with a maximum height limit of 30'. The lot currently has a single family house built in 1924 on it. The proposed buildiing will have harbor views of the incoming ships from the roof top decks.
After various studies as to how to maintain the current 1000sf house and add 3 units, we decided that it would be best to remove the existing house and build 4 new units. The existing house required upgrading and the scheme would always project a front house and then three rear units which would not have the same appeal as a totally new building having 4 units. The (4) new units would also require a greater initial investment (one extra unit to build) but the final product would have a better quality and greater resale value. Also, to keep the existing house we would have had to lift the new units up one floor and put the parking underneath it but the required parking of 2 cars per unit and the 40' lot width made 90 degree parking under the building difficult and as such we located the parking to the back of the lot.
The proposed building is 24' x 72' on the first floor to allow the required 10' wide driveway to pass by and then cantilevers out 4' to 28' x 72' on top to maximize the living space on the upper two floors. The units are 18' wide allowing for the bedrooms/living areas to be on one side and a stair/hall on the opposite side.
The Green Building elements that are proposed are as follows: The cladding is recycled content galvalume finished corrogated metal panels, industrial aluminum window sections, and sections of composite wood/plastic slatted siding, with concrete block on the ground level. The roof is a cool roof material and provides a deck and an area for solar panels and drainage located to collect rain water for landscape watering and provide a delayed release during a storm. There is a front porch concept with a solar panel canopy for sun shading. The parking area is proposed to be a planted permeable surface to reduce water runoff into the storm drains and to reduce the heat island effect.
The units provide 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, living area, dining area, and kitchen area. Each unit is estimated to cost about $250,000 each for a total construction cost of $1,000,000.