Huntington Beach, CA
Huntington Beach Design Guidelines demand Mediterranean Architecture but it is confused with Mission Style.
The Mediterranean lifestyle is casual and healthy, focused on enjoying the simple things in life: the sea, the sun, fresh air and wholesome food.
The Mediterranean is a basin which links a number of countries in this sensual life inspired by the influence of the sea.
Our project is derived from the Mediterranean seaside tradition. We have looked to the Architecture of the Greek Islands and ports rather than the Tuscan Hillsides for inspiration. This cubic white architecture, geometric and faceted patterns gleaming against the brilliant blue waters, is our starting point. From these cool white cubes, balconies lean out into the sunshine and sky. The Mediterranean tradition has long been the ideal of an organic architecture in which parts bear an essential relationship to the whole. These beautiful white villages express the warmth an openness of the Mediterranean Sea and light. They are also the inspiration for modernism. Here we are proposing a contemporary Mediterranean settlement with an architecture which combines both traditions – the ease and freedom of mid century modernism of Southern California, and the dense white villages of the Mediterranean. Here they are combined to give this beach village its personality.
Rectangular in plan, every home is arranged around outdoor space, either a private garden, or a large balcony; inside flows out. Combined with the white walls are generous areas of glass, filling the interiors with light and air. Houses are arranged in blocks around courtyards. Each house is a miniature of the village. The courtyard blocks in turn form a crescent surrounding the large green, a public courtyard at the scale of the village.
Here is everything we love about the Mediterranean: its physical life, the sunshine and health, the courtyards, the terraces overlooking the sea, the tanned people full of nature’s blessings, a feeling of bounty and everything one needs.
