SDSU Students Apply Sustainable Practices to Their New “Reclaimed” Garden

SDSU's Energy and Sustainability Officer Tom Abram called us to participate in an unusual project. He was teaching a class on sustainability and had received grant money from the state. The funds were intended to educate students on sustainable practices on various California State Universities. The curriculum was for students to develop an idea to convert a small part of the campus into a sustainable showcase in site design. However, the grant was small, and the campus hadn't anticipated this type of garden conversion in their yearly budget. Tom’s students had grand ideas with no foregone knowledge of the costs. McCullough's role was to consult with the students to bring their vision into a realistic plan.

As the project evolved, we developed creative ideas to make this garden a special place. The team scouted a number of sites but ultimately chose a large open-grass field in a very active corner of the campus, located directly adjacent to an on-campus Starbucks. This area was chosen and "reclaimed" as the new student garden.

The grass field, while located at a busy campus intersection, was underutilized. It lacked shade and places to sit and was used as a thoroughfare. The concept was to divide the area into a variety of seating spaces. Large slabs of stone were placed to form natural seating areas. Native plants were installed to reduce water usage and to attract birds, bees, butterflies and other wildlife.

We collaborated with campus facilities to research ways to provide healthier grass in heavy-use areas requiring lower water and maintenance. A natural product was found that had been tested over many years at UC Davis which could be mechanically impregnated into the soil below the turf. Josh Koss, the campus Assistant Director for Landscape and Fleet Services, was looking for a new way to provide healthier growing environments for the turf grass across the campus. This product was identified as a candidate to try as it showed results at providing two important elements needed in healthy grass growth — oxygen and water retention. This product, along with other measures employed in the project, the collaboration of students, staff and landscape professionals all contributed to a successful renovation named "The Student Reclamation Garden." If you happen to find yourself at Starbucks across the street from SDSU College of Arts and Letters, stop for a latte, relax and people-watch in this newly renovated garden.

David McCullough, ASLA, PLA
Principal Landscape Architect

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Gensler is Our Featured Client This Month

450 B Street rendering provided by Gensler

McCullough Landscape Architecture is delighted to announce Gensler as Client of the Month for May. They are a global architecture, design and planning firm with 50 locations and more than 6,000 professionals networked across Asia, Europe, Australia, the Middle East and the Americas. Gensler’s mission is “committed to creating positive, enduring change through social responsibility and civic engagement in the communities where we live and work.” While Gensler’s renowned reach spans the globe, the company’s focused and meaningful approach to research enables it to beautifully shape our local communities. Gensler considers each project as an opportunity to build on the present with imaginative and purposeful design, which will lead us into the future.

In 2019, Gensler was awarded “Most Innovative Design of the Year” by Fast Company for its Shaw Workplace Project, located in the small-town of Cartersville, Georgia. Gensler designed this new innovation hub for Patcraft and Shaw Contract, two subsidiaries of the commercial flooring company Shaw Industries. Gensler was able to understand the needs of the modest community by implementing a Workplace Performance Index. The online survey was created by the firm to analyze how people work in a particular company, in order to develop the most effective design. The Workplace Performance Index is standard procedure for Gensler. It is given to clients both before occupancy to gather employee input on their workplace prior to starting a design project, and after the completion of the project to measure the success of the proposed design solution. We, at McCullough value Gensler’s ability to collaborate with the client and project team to create a space that solves everyday problems through architecture and design.

McCullough was recently selected by Gensler to participate in the 450 B Street project for LeBeau Realty, which will feature a new six-story office building of approximately 88,278 square feet. This project will offer an intimate space in the heart of San Diego’s downtown for office, commercial and retail companies. The project’s central courtyard will feature a new trellis structure, firepit and fireplace, social communal areas, urban benches surrounded by enhanced landscape and two large specimen Tipu trees within raised planters. The courtyard’s spacious and open walkways allow for efficient travel and the ability to safely enjoy the San Diego sunshine. 450 B Street is presently in construction administration phase, and updates on its progress will be provided as they become available.

We appreciate each opportunity to work with a company like Gensler. Our companies are aligned in our design approaches and strive to create spaces that push the boundaries of our dreams.

Interesting Resources

• Gensler

• The Most Innovative Office Design of the Year is in Cartersville, Georgia

• Who Wants to Buy a High Rise II, Class B (andC) Going Up for Sale

• GCM Embarks on Downtown SanDiego 6-Story Office Building

Nicole Hensch
Marketing and Administrative Assistant

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Six DIY Updates For Your Home During COVID-19

Our guest blogger is Suzie Wilson, an interior designer who focuses on stress-free living.

There’s never been a better time to tackle home improvement projects than when you’re isolating due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With ample time on your hands and nowhere to go, you can dedicate your time to beautifying your home distraction-free.

That doesn’t mean homeowners should start a major remodel in the midst of quarantine. While it’s safe to hire contractors to do work outside your home, keeping your home’s interior family-only is safest for your household.

Instead, turn to DIY projects that you can complete from start to finish without calling in the pros. From simple projects that are perfect for novices to big home improvements that put experienced homeowners’ skills to the test, these are six DIY jobs to tackle during lockdown.

THREE SMALL PROJECTS TO SPRUCE UP YOUR HOME
Reinventing can be a costly endeavor, but not always. When you’re on a small budget or looking for a quick update, small projects like these are an easy way to add a little joy to your home.

REARRANGE YOUR LIVING ROOM
This no-tools-required project is perfect for a weekend with nothing on the calendar. Try mixing up your furniture arrangement, reorganizing your bookshelf, retooling your entryway, and tidying up clutter magnets to give your place a fresh new feel.

TURN THE MASTER SUITE INTO A PERSONAL OASIS
Personal space is hard to come by when locked down at home with kids. Give yourself somewhere blissful to escape by redoing your bedroom. To get started, invest in high-quality linens, update light fixtures and bulbs for a soft glow, and paint the walls a soothing hue. Then, look to personal touches that make the space feel like your own.

RECAULK AND REGROUT
While not a fun job, replacing dirty, cracked, and crumbling grout and caulk is a satisfying project that makes a big impact on a bathroom or kitchen’s appearance. Caulking bathtubs is also important to prevent water intrusion that can threaten a home’s structural elements.

THREE HOME IMPROVEMENTS WITH IMPRESSIVE ROI
When you do invest into your home, you want to know that your efforts will pay off. Some projects — like these below — have a reputation for increasing a home’s value. However, not all buyers value the same thing. To understand what buyers in your market are willing to pay for, pay attention to online real estate listings for San Diego to see which features improve resale value in comparable homes.

PAINT THE FRONT DOOR
This is an easy project that most homeowners can accomplish in an afternoon. When painting a front door, choosing a color that complements your home is the most important thing. However, it’s also valuable to pay attention to trends. Are buyers in your area looking for a traditional style, or do they prefer modern homes?

UPDATE KITCHEN CABINETS
Replacing cabinets is a job for the pros, but updating them isn’t! Whether painting, refinishing, or hanging new doors, updating cabinetry is a project experienced homeowners can handle alone. After refreshing cabinet doors, install new hardware to complete your kitchen’s new look.

CREATE AN OUTDOOR LIVING SPACE
A sunny day is a great excuse to take your DIY skills outdoors. Head to the backyard where you can expand your living space with a DIY patio. Homeowners have a variety of materials to choose from when building a DIY patio, including gravel, flagstone, cut stone, pavers, and bricks. Install low-maintenance plants and solar landscape lights around the patio’s perimeter to complete the space.

It’s important to find the silver linings in life, like having more time to spend on your home and with family while locked down due to COVID-19. While there’s a lot to worry about in the world, improving your home gives you something positive to focus on during this tumultuous time. Whether you tackle one of these projects or another, we hope these ideas serve as inspiration as you tend your home and create a wonderful place to live.

McCullough specializes in landscape architecture for projects including mixed-use residential, hospitality and a wide variety of commerical clients. Visit our portfolio.

COVID-19 and Our Private Spaces

In these quarantine days, I’m trying to look past the obvious changes to our daily routines, trying to recognize new patterns of interaction with our surroundings. The foxes and songbirds of Yosemite Valley are probably wondering where all the annoying humans went. The raccoons of Balboa Park are probably lonely and hungry, as the trash cans are not offering their usual buffet. Of course, we’re not all gone, we’re just home. Home for work, home for dinner, home for drinks, home for working out and home for digital socializing.

When being home becomes too much, we trickle out onto the sidewalks, sauntering about with our dogs and our loved ones. People in the same household, or “viral unit,” take to the streets on foot and on bike, enjoying the sunshine that office life typically forbade. 

There’s a new sidewalk etiquette. I encounter a viral unit walking towards me on the sidewalk. Two parents and their adolescent children, walking at 4 p.m. on a Wednesday. A family walking. Together. On a Wednesday afternoon…madness. As I’m outnumbered, I step off the sidewalk and into the street, ceding the way for them. As we cross paths, ten feet of air between us, I hold my breath. Perhaps this is a bit much, but this is how we walk now.

A block later, I’m passing Fernside, a corner bar that is not giving up without a fight. They have a patio door open and have set a display case across the opening as an impromptu bar. They’re serving walk-up drinks and food to go. Clients stand in a loose line, six feet apart. Even during a pandemic, many of us still would rather have someone else make our drinks for us.

However, most of us are using this isolation time as for culinary experimentation. Now friends report vast lines at butcher shops, and a famously long line at the fish market on the Embarcadero. Instagram “research” shows unprecedented amounts of first-time bread baking and pasta making.

Many of us are working less, cooking more, and spending time with family, sharing one simple fact: we are stuck inside our homes, most of the day, every day. The outdoors tempts us with space and sunshine, but the threat of infection looms. Parks are closed and sidewalks are the last menacing sliver of public left to us.

A Look at Our Private Outdoor Space

This forces us to re-appraise private outdoor space. A common refrain in urban design circles is the observation that people who live in “real” cities trade in private space for dynamic, high-quality public space. The usual example is the Parisian or the New Yorker whose home is the city itself. The cafes and plazas and parks act as a shared dining room, living room, and backyard for the urbanite. This relationship with public space has been held up for years as healthier, more social, and more environmentally friendly than suburban living. With COVID-19 among us, however, we see how fragile dense urbanity can be during a pandemic. My friends and family in New York are truly quarantined, holed up in little apartments. Fresh air and green space are rare luxuries. Going to the park is a calculated risk. By contrast, my friends in San Diego are building backyard glamping tents, WIFI equipped, pillows strategically placed, whiskey poured, emailing with sunshine streaming in. 

However, this is not an endorsement of suburban living. This is a recognition of the fact that as the world becomes increasingly urban and internationally interconnected, pandemics have more and more fertile ground on which to spread. Whether it’s COVID-19 today, or something else tomorrow, we need to reconcile our need to be in quarantine with our deep need to be outside. 

Contemporary architecture tries to address this need, as Eran Chen describes in ArchDaily: 

“Green walls and inner courtyards aren’t window dressing, they are a direct connection from your brain to the diurnal, indigenous instincts we have as humans on earth.”

Trendy green walls aside, design has been responding to our need for private and semi-private outdoor space for ages now, and this crisis is highlighting the value of what we took for granted when we spent our days away from home. 

In Curbed New York, Doug Gordon celebrates the recent rediscovery of the stoop: 

“Not quite public but not quite private either, stoops have afforded at least some New Yorkers a bit of breathing room between them and spouses or roommates working from home, or children engaged in remote learning. In many ways, they may be better than a home office, extra bedroom, or even a backyard. They’re an airlock of sorts, something that seamlessly connects a home with the city while offering at least a tiny buffer from it.”

The stoop and the front porch are both very useful quasi-public spaces. They provide front row seats to the most compelling tv channel there is—people walking by. The people walking by entertain themselves by looking at, or waving at, or even chatting with the watchers on the stoops. All this happens at a safe distance. In other words, the building typologies of yesteryear already provide social distancing infrastructure, a street-level stage for us to inhabit. Now we just need to take ownership of what has been handed down to us.

Remember Jane Jacobs: She Got a Lot Right 

Not all of us live in Jane Jacobs-style neighborhoods. In ubiquitous high-rise buildings, our outdoor spaces are balconies, terraces and rooftops. As Jan Gehl famously pointed out in Cities for People, a balcony above the fifth or sixth floor becomes socially disconnected from the street. We can no longer distinguish sidewalk faces easily above this height, and an attempted conversation with someone on the street degenerates into a few shouts. However, instead of looking down to the street, we can look to our left and to our right. Our adjacent balconies can offer neighborly socializing at a safe distance. They also offer something a shared building stoop doesn’t—personalization. Using plants, lights and furniture, a balcony can blossom into an expression of one’s taste. In quarantine times, the balcony is no longer relegated to evening beer and morning coffee. It is the sky-bound front porch, a place for working, lunching, and even growing food. 

In inner-ring neighborhoods, off-street parking becomes less relevant when people don’t commute to work. Let’s sell our cars and turn driveways into gardens. Even in the outer burbs, our yards take on new importance. Those of us working from home need a place to escape to, and the often-lowly patch of grass that we call our yard is all the more important than it ever has been. In South Park, neighbors are simultaneously taking to their front yards in order to share a distanced, but communal happy hour in the evenings. If we have the privilege of access to a private outdoor space, this is a time for us to take ownership of it, whatever that space is and make it our attainable dream.

Now that we’re home all day, let’s put some twinkly lights and a bistro table on our balcony; or, let’s park our car on the street so we can hang out in the driveway; or heck, let’s even set up a glampground in our backyards. We’ve got to spend 40 more hours at home than ever before, so we might as well shape our little spaces under the open sky into places that we enjoy and take pride in.

BENJAMIN ARCIA, M.U.D.
Senior Associate

He’s Back

Benjamin has returned to McCullough after a year and a half spent traveling and working on farms in South America. His gregarious nature and bilingual/bi-cultural upbringing enabled him to connect deeply with people and places he encountered along the way. However, his love for his adopted home of San Diego pulled him back here to California.

Benjamin is a generalist, with a tendency towards abstraction and daydreaming. His wide-ranging interests from downhill skateboarding, to farming and backpacking, express his love for exploration. These interests have given him a diverse palette of experiences that he combines with his knowledge of history to create designs that are emotionally inspired, but pragmatically informed.

Benjamin blew in with the breeze in 2013 and has been designing at McCullough ever since. A University of Miami graduate of the Master of Urban Design program, he was at first unfamiliar with the scale and materials of landscape architecture. However, he soon found that the multi-faceted nature of the discipline, continually rewarded his curiosity. Landscape architecture has since become a deeply gratifying profession for him.

A little-known fact about Benjamin, is that he holds a second-degree black belt in Taekwondo.

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Our Featured Client This Month:Liberty National Corporation

Park and Broadway rendering

McCullough Landscape Architecture is proud to announce Liberty National Corporation as our first client of the month. They are an industry leader in developing multi-family residential projects throughout Florida and Southwestern United States. Their mission is to: 

 “Create architecturally exceptional residential communities that are self-sustaining, environmentally sensitive and offer residents the finest in apartment living.”

Liberty National takes a long-term approach with every project to ensure they are compatible with a community’s ongoing success and sustainability goals. Above all, they value reducing the carbon footprint by conserving water and making more efficient energy choices.

Aside from being one of the industry leaders in sustainable multi-family housing, Liberty National is also committed to helping each of its served communities through different philanthropies, including but not limited to, The Salvation Army, United Cerebral Palsy and Save Our Heritage Organization. 

Liberty National currently has a surplus of 4,000 units in several stages of entitlement and construction and has developed thousands of apartment units. A few upcoming projects include  Park and Broadway, 10th and B, Columbia and Hawthorne, State Street, First and Beech, La Jolla Highlands, and projects in Celebration, Florida. 

Grit, Soul and Style

We are particularly excited about the Liberty National project at Park and Broadway. What is now a vacant lot bounded on the east by 13th Street and the north by C Street, will soon be turned into a 40-story apartment tower with two mid-rise buildings of six and seven stories. Park and Broadway will provide 640 residential units and 16,485 feet of commercial space in one of the most regularly traveled areas in East Village downtown. McCullough was selected to design the landscape of this state-of-the-art project and we are confident that our work will be an exceptional and sustainable illustration of the downtown community. 

We are thrilled to work with Liberty National. Our companies are aligned beautifully because we share the vision of combining the grit, soul and style of each unique community. 

Learn more about Liberty National, and some of their other projects on the horizon.

Nicole Hensch
Marketing and Administrative Assistant

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COVID-19: Important Industry Updates from BIA San Diego

Get the latest information from the Government Affairs department of BIA San Diego. Currently, they are tracking the county’s jurisdiction’s operations and precautionary measures during the stay-at-home order on a daily basis. As an organization active in policy and issues around the built environment, they are committed to keeping its members and the public informed during this difficult and unusual time in our city and around the world.

McCullough is proud to be a long-time member and sponsor of the Building Industry Association (BIA) of San Diego County

Our staff uses this incredibly helpful information while continuing to work on client projects. Check out the resources below:

Resources

Download the Development Services Department Operations info spreadsheet 

BIA San Diego COVID-19 Latest Updates

BIA San Diego

California Coronavirus Response

America’s Charities: Ways to Help

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The Earth Thanks Us 

In celebration of Earth Day on April 22, all of us are benefitting from the stay-at-home order. The air quality is improving and wildlife is taking a breather from us. Coyotes have been spotted in San Francisco’s financial district and deer are taking a bath in swimming pools. With climate change a threat to our way of life, having 80% of autos off the road has helped individuals who suffer from respiratory illness, heart attacks and strokes; keeping our hospitals available to treat Covid-19 patients. Indeed it’s a good day for our planet called Earth. 

Get the latest facts on air quality from the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Design for One of Nature’s Most Beautiful Settings

The La Jolla Cove, a part of the Ellen Browning Scripps Park located at the foot of the Village of La Jolla, has a vital role in the community and is a hot spot for recreation and an international tourist destination. The La Jolla Swim Club has recently engaged McCullough to enhance the site with new plant material and hardscape improvements.

This is the first phase of a larger improvement project. The Ellen Browning Scripps Park spreads across a large part of the coastline within the community of La Jolla. It is considered one of the most photographed locations in San Diego. With three incredible beaches and a scenic park, it is the perfect lookout for whale watching and beautiful sunsets.

Design Solutions That Met the Challenges

As with most projects, there are challenges. Since this area is so beloved by local citizens and visitors from around the world, it was necessary for us to be good listeners and find the best solutions throughout the entire process. A number of board members were skeptical about the project and had the ability to stop the project before it got underway. In addition, the club had raised money for the project and were committed to spending it within a specific timeframe. Lastly, City of San Diego Parks and Recreation staff stipulated that an irrigation system be off-limits for this property. We agreed with their assessment, as supplemental water added to an already unstable California bluff only adds to its instability. In this case, the project required us to be sensitive to the location and the community.

With this in mind, our goal was to:

• Utilize plant material that mimics the natural landscape

• Be sustainable and be attractive year-round

• Use no supplemental irrigation

• Help stabilize a delicate slope bluff and ecosystem

Expedited Installation

The project received the necessary approvals from the city and then moved expeditiously from concept into installation. Though this was to be a contracted project, we conducted the project similar to a “volunteer park enhancement project,” as this gave us a more simplified approval process.

In early January 2020, we were given the approval to proceed by the Swim Club. Within a week we generated a design concept including a parts and materials list. Speed was important. So, in just the next week we contacted the city staff, the plan was distributed for approval, we met with the stakeholders for a kick-off gathering, and an installation team was assembled. Within three weeks, and ahead of the first rains forecasted for January, the project broke ground. By early February, the project was largely completed.

It’s All About Our Grit

Under normal circumstances, McCullough is an advocate for an inclusive community-based collaborative type process, as that is part of the firm's design philosophy. However, in this case, the usual process wasn’t an option. The key here was a clear understanding of the community surrounding the park, the stakeholders, the constraints and the opportunities, and then a clear and resolute focus on the decided upon plan of action.

Turning the project around quickly is something that McCullough does well. With our grit to “get it done,” along with the grit nature brings to the site, it is always a welcome challenge and one that produces quick results. As a result, the community reaps the benefits of the enhancements while helping to preserve the vulnerable bluffs.

David McCullough, ASLA, PLA
Principal Landscape Architect

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A Message Regarding COVID-19

With the state of current events surrounding COVID-19, please know at McCullough our clients and staff are our top priority. We are committed to fulfilling our project responsibilities while keeping a healthy office environment. Although some employees are working remotely and meetings are moving to virtual, we are working with a full staff to accommodate deadlines.

For many of us, these unprecedented times find events canceled, trips postponed, and business conducted remotely. We encourage you to take this unique opportunity to pause, embrace nature, and immerse yourself in the one constant—the beauty of our environment. So, Keep Calm and Garden On.

Catherine and David McCullough

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Don’t Miss the Next PechaKucha Night

The upcoming PechaKucha Night will be held May 7th at Amp&rsand in Mission Valley.

With SDAF as the official host of the San Diego chapter, PechaKucha Night occurs in many worldwide locations with each presenter showing 20 images for 20 seconds each.

McCullough is proud to be an annual Partner with SDAF. The organization’s Partners are comprised of design, development, and community leaders, among others who support the built environment to improve the quality of life for San Diegans.

As of today, this event is still scheduled. Check www.sdarchitecture.org for schedule updates.

McCullough Helps Plan a Sustainable Community South of the Border

Catalyzing Communities for a Regenerative Future is a global program that works to develop actions to help communities become more resilient and sustainable. The program is aligned with the Paris Agreement on Climate Control, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Mexico’s sustainable development policies and incentives, and the Pátzcuaro’s Plan de Desarrollo Municipal. These organizations and policies were established to create a global eco-community business model, and to formulate strategies for implementation and operational actions on the local level.

In mid-January, a group of us traveled to Michoacán, Mexico, and attended the first program in a series held in the Spanish colonial village of Pátzcuaro. Kristen Victor of Sustainability Matters and co-founder of Beautiful PB and a leader in galvanizing communities throughout the southland to live more sustainably, spearheaded the program. Her credentials include the development of the Pacific Beach EcoDistrict and is a leading advocate and co-creator of the City of San Diego’s Climate Action Plan. Catherine and I are proud to be participating in the first of its kind in Mexico.

Kristen believes “that the future or our species depends on individuals participating in a ‘bottom up approach’ rather than top down; secondarily, a system where government and large public agencies support and engage with the community to build more sustainable futures.

First Steps for the Community of Pátzcuaro

We arrived on January 16 in Pátzcuaro at Casa Werma, a Pueblo Mágico, and began working with the community to help develop and plan their ecovillage.

Pátzcuaro is a community dedicated in sustainable living, and even though stressed by population growth, it is extremely beautiful. There are many groups throughout their community who are currently working towards this goal. However, the advantage of this program was to bring varying groups together, formulate common goals, to build trust and encourage the a bottom up mindset.

Research, Discovery and Alignment

Kristen Victor, Kim Nadel and Lola Victor arrived early to set the stage for the program. Their intent was to forge trust and understanding within their team and the local participants and form community coalitions. During an earlier visit, they found that three local groups had historically been at odds, so Kristen and her team needed to align everyone for a common goal. Indigenous, Mexican (Spanish European) and the “extranjeros,” or foreigners (mostly American expats), were brought together to create a regenerative ecosystem that would transcend the test of time for future generations.

McCullough’s Participation

As landscape architects, we know the value of understanding the components that make up an environment and how they affect the culture of a community. Placemaking is a multi-faceted approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces. Placemaking capitalizes on a local community's assets, inspiration, and potential, with the intention of creating public spaces that promote people's health, happiness and well-being. Catherine and I spent several days gathering information about their water, waste and mobility flow through placemaking, visualization, local cuisine, cultural trips, community planning and design discussions.

One of the first activities McCullough led was a process called asset mapping. Community participants met around a large map with color-coded dots that were used to designate specific asset categories. The participants placed dots on the map based on their personal knowledge and values relating to their community assets. The team then used this map, along with other information collected from our research, to move specific activities and studies of placemaking, culture, water, waste and mobility. Next, we met in smaller group sessions throughout the week to work on the ideas that were generated.

The program benefitted from having a diverse range of participants drawn from the community. They included:

• State and city government

• The mayor (or Presidente, as is locally acknowledged) and representatives

• Students and educators

• Indigenous peoples and their tribal elders

• Artists, local craftspersons

• Entrepreneurs

• Spiritual leaders

• Architects

• Expats

Next Steps: The Water Challenge

This event along with several trips to Pátzcuaro, is only the beginning. The Catalyzing Communities team has agreed to return on three additional trips to organize more studies into the four primary areas that concern the town. In April, the first more focused discussion will be to discuss water. The community is tasked with outlining how to provide cleaner water and maximize its distribution. Experts will be brought in from around the world to hold important discussions, and to set goals that are realistic and achievable.

This has been an amazing time for all of us and is greater than any individual or singular organization can initiate. But, this is just the beginning for every individual to help solve some of society’s greatest sustainability problems.

We’ll keep you posted through our social media as things develop for the next event in April 2020. We invite all of you to send us your ideas and solutions to ecocommunities16@gmail.com.

David McCullough, ASLA, PLA
Principal Landscape Architect

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Welcome Zeek Magallanes to the McCullough Team

Mario "Zeek" Magallanes recently joined McCullough as our newest Associate Landscape Designer. Zeek’s responsibilities include designing for both large and small commercial-landscape development projects within the market sectors we are best known: commercial, hospitality, education and mixed-use projects. All of us are excited to see what Zeek’s visions will be.

Partnership and the Gaslamp Association is an important additional to our firm as we continue to shape our downtown and urban cores,” commented David on Zeek’s unique experience.

Magallanes brings years of education and volunteerism to our team. He earned a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture and Urbanism from USC, graduating with honors in Tau Sigma Delta for his academic achievements.

Prior to attending USC, he studied Residential Landscape Design at Cuyamaca College and attended San Diego State University where he earned a degree in Cultural Anthropology. Magallanes has been active as a volunteer in various club organizations. While at Cuyamaca College he served first as the Media Officer, then as the Secretary of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Student Chapter. Concurrently, he was active in the Cuyamaca College Botanical Society where he served first as an Assistant to the Board, then as its 36th president. While attending USC, Magallanes served as the ASLA Student Chapter President for an academic year.

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Naby Miller is Promoted to Studio Design Leader

As McCullough continues to expand its influence throughout the region as well as globally, our designers also increase their design influence into our projects. Previously a Senior Associate, Nabyl "Naby" Miller has been promoted to Studio Design Leader. She will be collaborating with the studio’s design principal, David McCullough.

Miller’s work focuses on creative integration of landscapes and social design, mixed-use development, civic centers, residential development, office campuses, office retrofits and commercial centers throughout the U.S., China, Indonesia and Mexico. “Naby is a great addition to our team as the firm’s latest promotion. She offers a perspective and artistic bent that stretches the limits of creative thinking,” commented David McCullough.

McCullough Designers Select the “Best Of” for 2019

City of San Diego | Mission Bay North, De Anza Cove Wildest C3 Master Plan

David McCullough, ASLA, PLA
Principal Landscape Architect

The sheer complexity of this project—a real challenge—was why I chose this master plan project. With the various stakeholders involved, political opinions, self and self-less interests, technical challenges, personal opinions (the list goes on), this project consumed many hours of consideration, strategy, collaboration and compromise. This is what I thrive on. It’s like a complex puzzle with thousands of pieces; the process was fun, invigorating and inspiring. And on top of that, the cause was pure and sincere.

My overriding goal throughout was to not compromise on the things that mattered for the greater good of the community.

As an individual who has been working in the profession now for nearly 30 years, I believe I had many tools and lessons from experience to bring to the process. All and all, it was an incredible experience. It is an honor to say I took a small part in this historic effort and I look forward to watching and participating as the process unfolds over time.

Project Background
In late 2014, the City of San Diego embarked on a community effort to prepare an amendment to the Mission Bay Park Master Plan. The project required necessary changes to Mission Bay’s northern end, commonly known as De Anza Cove. The lease was expiring for an RV campground called “Campland on the Bay” and the adjacent mobile home park on the De Anza Cove peninsula.

The city’s staff hired professionals to coordinate with the community and to facilitate a technical study of the area. Many local organizations formed a coalition for environmental research and to assist in an approach that community leaders desired for a long-term sustainable outcome. The coalition established Rewild Mission Bay to address these issues. The Rewild Mission Bay initiative included San Diego’s most notable environmental organizations, including the San Diego Audubon Society, San Diego Coastkeeper, Surfrider Foundation, Sierra Club San Diego and Citizens Coordinate for Century 3 (C3).The organization received research funding and assistance from the Coastal Conservancy, Recourses Legal Fund and from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Their task was to prepare a feasibility study for an environmental solution for the De Anza Cove.

The scientific research and planning formulated the “ReWild Mission Bay: Wetlands Restoration Feasibility Study Report.”
Read the full report here →

The main concepts that were considered were—“wild”, “wilder,” and “wildest,” with the “wildest” plan chosen as the preferred option, as it served the community in the best possible way.

However, the concept was missing a land-use plan, which the city required and was part of the environmental impact report (EIR). This report was key to move the project forward and help identify potential environmental impacts to the project. This process would lead to a more holistic final amendment to the Mission Bay Master Plan.

In early 2019, I was contacted by a board member of C3, Kristen Victor of Sustainability Matters, who is a primary contributor of the city’s adopted climate action plan. Together with Kristen, McCullough was retained to prepare a land use and site master plan for the “wildest” concept. Throughout the year long process, we met monthly with coalition members, coastal commissioners, scientists from the USD, community leaders and activists. As a result, we developed a comprehensive land-use plan that met the objectives for the City of San Diego’s Mission Bay Master Plan, which was adopted in 1994, amended in 1995, 1997 and in 2002.

In mid-2019, at the request of the coalition and as a result of a loud outcry from the community, the San Diego City Council recommended that the “wildest” plan be utilized in the pending EIR process as one of the three options considered for the property. A project of this nature can sometimes take many years to vet and then adopt. The plans may go through many evolutions with the final execution taking decades.

For more information of where the project stands to date →

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Pinnacle at Millenia | Chula Vista

Eric Tran, ASLA
Studio Team Leader

This project for Meridian Communities is an urban meets suburban community found within the ever-growing urban village of Millenia in Chula Vista. Pinnacle at Millenia boasts an array of amenities to satisfy the diverse community, such as a recreational center with pool, a fully fenced-in dog park, tot lot, a linear passive park and a great number of trees to help soften and scale down the pedestrian experience within the neighborhood.

It is always our goal to connect with our clients to ensure we are designing and developing meaningful spaces that not only suit the end-user, but also maintain the soul, grit and style in our design.

I chose this project because we could do this effortlessly with Meridian Communities.

Our team designed a planting palette that embodies the soul and style of the firm with tangible elements to offset softness of the landscape.

Our close collaboration with the Meridian Communities on many of their projects enhances our ability to do our best work. This project was no exception. Pinnacle at Millenia opens this year and we cannot wait to see the community engage within the landscape.

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InvivoGen Corporate Campus | Sorrento Valley

Naby Miller, ASLA
Senior Associate

I chose this project because it falls in line with our purpose to create meaningful spaces and is a great example of true collaboration between client and our design team.

With an increased need for work-life balance, tech companies continue to develop campuses that provide unique amenities designed specifically to keep their employees happy and productive.

InvivoGen joins those setting an example of what can be done to enhance a corporate office environment. The company has taken a unique triangular class “A” building and turned it into a state-of-the-art creative research and development lab with views to the outdoors in every direction.

After the building was remodeled, the company’s president and CEO asked us to develop an outdoor amenity space to serve their employees. Our design features a fully functional outdoor meeting space which is ideal for impromptu collaborative work sessions, comfortable lounge seating for lunch breaks and flexible space for their corporate events.

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Park and Broadway | San Diego

Maha Balachandran, International ASLA
Associate, Northern California office

Park and Broadway is a high-rise, mixed-use retail, restaurant and housing development located in the heart of Downtown San Diego.

Developer Broadway Park knows the value of providing landscape as social spaces within high density living. We reimagined the site entry and transformed the podium plaza.

The play of pedestrian walkways and landscaped areas crafting multiple levels of elevated porches make Park and Broadway my personal favorite of 2019.

By bringing the retail and restaurant spaces “inside and out,” the plaza was designed to be flexible to serve the occupants’ needs. An alley of trees along the ramp emphasizes the pedestrian entry. The hanging gardens and green walls align with the building balconies and the wall along the garage entry. Our approach was to create an immersive, integrated design to better impact and articulate the architecture.

The landscape includes new streetscapes and three roof gardens. An elaborate roof garden for the residents was designed with amenities including firepits, BBQs and trellis-shaded dining areas along with turf-clad lounge areas. Formal plant beds with ornamental grasses distinguish the boundaries of the amenities. A pool/spa is provided on the skydeck with a lounge area, providing an urban window to the beautiful view of the downtown skyline. The landscape stimulates the vibrant city for many to enjoy!

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Ariel Towers | San Diego

Johanna Mall, ASLA
Junior Associate

My favorite project of 2019 was a moss green wall installed at the Ariel Towers located downtown San Diego. This ornamental entry wall was a small project, but a great example of the wide variety of projects that we tackle at McCullough. In California’s immense efforts to conserve, water features in urban settings have become largely frowned upon. Our client wanted to transform a large vertical water feature into something that reflects California’s values today. A few design options and many iterations later led to this wooden slat composition with moss as the low maintenance plant material. It was truly amazing how our design was handed off and built in two days!

Because the moss on the new wall was not placed exactly the way it was rendered in Photoshop, it was a good lesson that technology is just a tool to assist in the design process and we must not get carried away with the seductive idea of perfection. It was through the imperfections of the design, followed by the installation that we learned to embrace the true grit of a design – a form of art and creativity.

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Valley View Casino and Hotel | Valley View

Armando Silva, ASLA
Associate

Nestled along the Hellhole Canyon Preserve in Valley Center lies a hidden gem, the Valley View Casino and Hotel. This four-acre site has had multiple renovations over the last 20 years, of which McCullough has been involved in all three projects. This past year an important renovation took place with architect, Delawie which added a new addition to the building and a major revamp of the site. As project manager for the new site design, I dove into a stringent schedule to see the final phase come to fruition. The construction phase lasted nearly a year, the demand was high for me to do site visits to make sure every detail was supervised. The result was an unforgettable learning experience.

The design was inspired by its surroundings with characteristics of the large angular boulders with native and lush landscape reflected in the design. The angular Corten steel planter beds, weathered steel, ground cover, planting and hardscape all represent the surrounding landscape. With such a unique design, the attention to detail was imperative. Coordinating the steel planter walls was a challenge as they had to be perfectly angled. I was there as the panels were placed to make sure that the differing heights lined up and that the seams became invisible. Placement of footings and posts for the walls had to be welded and strategically placed so that they would be in the correct place. Finding the fill side of the planter would hide this detail and cutting the post to follow angles was critical.

The large multi-trunk California Sycamore tree placed under the new breath-taking porte-cochere ceiling opening required some orchestral maneuvers.

With a combination of a bobcat and pneumatic telehandler, the tree was tilted at a 90-degree angle and wedged right into place. These moments are what inspire us to design and create soulful, meaningful places. My passion to design comes from being on a project site and to face the obstacles and overcome them—that is my grit.

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8840 Complex Drive | Kearny Mesa

Alex Wade, ASLA
Junior Associate

From start to finish, this project took over two years from concept design to demolition, construction and to administration. Then to see the project that was recently completed was very satisfying for me. The site consisted of 12,800sf.

To see the fruits of our labor while knowing the work we’ve done to accomplish the build, coordinating with our team, and pleasing the client are my favorite parts of what we do at McCullough.

There were times when the project really challenged us; nevertheless, we solved these challenges and the project was a great success. It was rewarding to see my design take shape and to command the landscape around a fresh, new warehouse building. Originally built for commercial use, the entire site was demolished. Because of this change of use from commercial to industrial, the site required a lot of research, including the parking requirements for the truck-loading dock, as well as BMP requirements and corresponding plantings. With little available landscape to work with, the two retention basins were tough to fit on the site. The civil engineers at BDS Engineering were very accommodating with our design, and we worked closely with them to create the proper water retention and drainage.

Although the scale of the building outweighs the initial planting design, a few years and some patience will allow the planting to encapsulate the building properly. Budget is always a big concern and one that I take seriously. Therefore, we chose to use smaller sized plantings. Touching on all facets of landscape design, I addressed the entire construction documentation from start to finish, which I’m really proud of. All-in-all, I learned a lot on this project and am happy with the outcome. I’m excited to see how it will blossom in future seasons.

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ULI’s Upcoming Women’s Leadership Event
McCullough is Proud to be 2020 Platinum Sponsors
of the ULI San Diego-Tijuana Chapter!

ULI is an important organization for McCullough to support as we have a similar vision: Each environment unveils a unique narrative embodying creativity, diversity, discovery and conservation. We also encourage women to grow their influence in the A/E/C industry. Therefore, we are happy to support the ULI Women’s Leadership Symposium. This outstanding event will be held on Thursday, 3:30-6:30 p.m., January 23, 2020 at Farmer and the Seahorse. (One of our favorite projects.)

The event’s theme is “Self-Advocacy: How to be an Agent of Your Own Success” and will feature Ann Marie Houghtailing as the keynote speaker.

Learn how to act on your own behalf with the same persuasive power you use on behalf of others. Know what you want and how to get it.

Don’t miss this exclusive ULI San Diego-Tijuana event.
Register today.→