Oceano Student Apartments – 2019 AIASB Honor Award, Multi-Family Residential

Despite onerous zoning restrictions on density, height, open space and parking this infill project provides badly needed student housing within walking distance of City College with a casual, modern design befitting its Santa Barbara Mesa context.

The narrow, .17 acre sloping site one block from SBCC was ripe for needed student housing. Coastal Zoning however prevented a dormitory, limiting it to two dwellings, Solar Access limits of two stories, required on grade open space and parking for four automobiles. The solution was a super-sized duplex with nine bedrooms, seven baths and two kitchens to provide housing for eighteen students.

The building steps down from the street with the sloping site to a common open space / storm water detention basin. Sited on the south edge toward the ocean views and sun, and away from a massive nearby apartment. The four masses acknowledge their site positions of street, mid-slope and rear:

The first mass addresses the street with an entry and patio/porch, while mandated second floor setback areas became a deck. Its shed roof points down the street to the ocean views. The middle two forms house the required garages, tucked in away from view by using a setback reduction for parking on narrow lots and the overhanging bedrooms above. The rear form terminates with a second-floor bay window pointed toward Santa Cruz Island and a first-floor deck opening to the common space.

Developed in the 1950’s & 60’s the Santa Barbara Mesa is less Spanish Revival and more casual Mid-Century Modern than the rest of town. Inspired by Rudolph Schindler this design picks up that vibe with its stepped massing, low slope roofs, deep overhangs and mix of materials and colors inspired by the nearby ocean.