ATTACHMENT B
SUMMARY OF PROPOSED OBJECTIVE DESIGN STANDARDS
DESIGN TYPE 1
CATEGORY SUMMARY OF PROPOSED STANDARDS
Massing and
Articulation
Buildings shall have simple box massing, without articulated subvolumes or projecting/recessed walls.
Flat roofs shall be required along with a parapet, with exceptions for alternate roof forms when the top floor is set back from floors below.
Specific Plan façade area requirements would not apply. Instead, when the façade is between 100 and 150 feet in length, a façade break of between 10 to 15 feet in length and 10 feet in depth, open to the sky, shall be required and no portion of a façade on either side of the break shall be less than 45 feet wide.
• Portions of the façade on either side of the required façade break shall be differentiated from each other using at least two choices from a menu of options, including fenestration pattern, detailing, height and material choices.
Building facades shall not be permitted to be less than 45 feet in length nor exceed 150 feet in length. In order to ensure that building façade lengths respond to Pasadena’s traditional building patterns, a complete physical building separation with a min imum width of 15 feet shall be required for a façade over 150 feet in length. • If a physical separation is required, height averaging shall be required to achieve varied building heights along the street frontage.
Base, Middle, Top
Building Design
Require all buildings be organized with a base, middle and top, as defined below:
• Base standards:
o Overall height between 15 and 20 feet to ensure that
buildings are appropriately scaled at a pedestrian
level.
o Base would be required to include a residential lobby (see Entries standards below) and at least one of the
following: direct access to ground -floor residential
units, amenity spaces, opening to a ground-level open
space area, commercial storefronts and entries.
o Requirements for the base to be separated from the
middle portion of a building by a projecting
architectural band, with minimum height and
projection standards or differentiated window types
based on Fenestration standards below.
o Minimum dimensions for ground -floor commercial
storefront or amenity space openings, minimum
entryway recess requirements, and separation
requirements to ensure visual continuity at street
level.
• Middle standards:
o Comply with specific fenestration,
building/craftsmanship elements, and material/color
standards as outlined in those sections.
• Top standards:
o Specific dimensional requirements for parapets at the top of a building, including requirements for cornices, projecting bands, or decorative panels.
o Allowances for the fenestration pattern within the top section of the building to be differentiated from the
middle section.
o Allowance for setting back top floor and differentiating it more distinctly from the rest of the building.
Fenestration and Solid-
to-Void Ratio
Provide a specified ratio of solid wall area to openings between 0.2 and 0.5 based on traditional building fenestration. This ratio would be calculated by dividing the total area of all openings on a building façade by the overall area of the façade.
Require windows be vertically oriented, with exceptions for openings that are connected to balconies.
Require alignment, distribution and stacking of openings on building facades with a range of dimensional standards for wall areas between openings.
Prohibit window trims other than sills and minimum required window recesses. Allowance for fins and canopies limited to individual openings.
Provide standards for vehicular entry/exit openings, including alignment requirements to ensure that such openings do not disrupt the overall rhythm of the building at ground level.
Building Entries
Require all buildings to have residential entries to a ground -floor lobby with specific dimensional requirements as well as a menu of options to appropriately differentiate residential lobby entrances from commercial or amenity space storefronts.
Define standards for individual ground -floor residential unit entries including dimensional standards for semi -public transitional areas such as terraces and stoops.
Prohibit entries below sidewalk grade.
Require parking garage entrances and doors to be recessed from adjacent wall planes.
Building/Craftsmanship
Elements
Require at least two building craftsmanship elements, such as cornices, dentils, plaster relief panels or medallions, and balconies:
• If used, balconies shall project from the street facing building façade by no more than 24 inches.
• Balconies along either side of a required façade break are permitted to have a different railing design, material, and color. Balconies shall be designed using high quality
materials and balcony railings shall be opaque.
Materials and Colors
Allow no more than two materials and no more than two colors for exterior walls.
• If two materials are used, specific material requirements for the base portion of a building would allow for the use of slab stone, precast concrete, porcelain tile, or brick for the entire base. Smooth or sand -finish stucco would then be required for the middle and top portions of a building.
• Dimensional requirements provided for porcelain tile and individual slab stones to ensure appropriate sizing.
• Exception for walls surrounding a recessed opening, which may use one additional color but shall be clad in the same material as the surrounding wall area.
• Walls and roofs of set-back top floors may have an additional material and/or color.
• Exterior colors shall conform to a specified range within the Munsell color system or similar color scale (as identified by staff).
Require all storefront frames, window frames, and doors to use the same material and color throughout the building exterior, which may contrast with exterior façade colors.
• Exception for doors with specific building code ratings (such as a fire door).
Prohibit certain finish materials, such as siding, shingles, CMU blocks, and metal or composite materials with a faux wood appearance.
Allow portions of a building on either side of a required façade break to utilize different materials.
DESIGN TYPE 2
CATEGORY SUMMARY OF PROPOSED STANDARDS
Massing and
Articulation
Buildings shall be designed with simple box massing, and shall include at least two of the following articulation elements per street elevation:
• A tower located at a street corner. This element would satisfy the requirement for both street facades.
• Uncovered outdoor stairs leading from the ground level to a second-story entrance.
• Terraces.
• Changes in building height.
Roof forms shall be flat, sloping (such as gabled, hipped, or mansard), or a combination. Changes in roof form shall only be permitted at towers or a change in height.
Specific Plan modulation requirements (façade breaks) are not required.
Base, Middle, Top
Building Design
Required all buildings be organized with a base, middle and top, as defined below:
• Base standards shall be the same as those for Simple Form buildings, except as follows:
o A majority of ground -floor openings shall be arched.
These may take the form of rounded, parabolic, or
draped features. Ground floor openings that are not
arched shall be rectangular with right angles.
o Ground floor openings shall be separated from each
other by a solid wall area, between five and ten feet in width.
o Ground floor unit entry doors shall have dimensional
and material requirements for architectural
consistency.
• Middle standards
o Comply with specific fenestration,
building/craftsmanship elements, and material/color
standards as outlined in those sections.
• Top standards
o Flat roofs shall have clay barrel tile coping and sloping roofs shall be clad in clay barrel tiles and have eaves with specific design requirements.
o Allowance for top floor to be differentiated from the middle and, if so, shall comply with the Top Standards
of the Simple Form.
Fenestration and Solid-
to-Void Ratio
Provide a specified ratio of solid wall area to openings between 0.2 and 0.3 (requiring greater solidity than Design Type 1 ). This ratio shall be calculated by dividing the total area of all openings on a façade to that façade’s overall area.
Require windows be distributed across facades with specific separation requirements, including not permitting windows to extend vertically across floors or horizontally across building corners.
Windows would not be required to be stacked or aligned in the same manner as buildings using the Simple Form standards.
Require square or vertically rectangular windows, not grouped more than in pairs with a minimum separation , with exceptions for openings that are connected to balconies.
Prohibit fins and canopies (only for Articulated Form standards).
Building Entries
Require all buildings to have residential entries to a ground-floor lobby with specific dimensional requirements as well as a menu of options to appropriately differentiate residential lobby entrances from commercial or amenity space storefronts.
Define standards for individual ground -floor residential unit entries including dimensional standards for semi -public transitional areas such as terraces and stoops.
Prohibit entries below sidewalk grade.
Require parking garage entrances and doors to be recessed from adjacent wall planes.
Building/Craftsmanship
Elements
Require at least two building craftsmanship elements, such as uncovered exterior stairs with terra cotta treads and decorative tile risers, balconies, covered or uncovered roof terraces, articulated cast stone or smooth plaster surrounds at ground-floor openings, copper gutters and exposed downspouts, and decorative metalwork and tilework. Standards will also be created to ensure appropriate treatment of these features related to this building form, particularly balconies.
Materials and Colors
Require specific stucco or plaster finishes be either white or beige with control joints painted to match.
• Window frames shall be in a contrasting color and shall not be white or beige.
Require all wood materials be painted or stained solid dark walnut.
Require all metal finishes be matte black.
• If used, gates shall consist of metal pickets and rails.
Exterior colors shall conform to a specified range within the Munsell color system or similar color scale.
Require gable ends to include groupings of at least three circular terra cotta pipe vents that project at least two inches from the building façade.
Allow decorative tile inlays to be substituted for up to one percent of the openings on a façade, if recessed by at least two inches from the exterior wall and with specific dimensional standards.
Allow sloped roofs to have exposed gutters and downspouts; if used, gutters shall be either half -round or ogee -profile and downspouts shall be round. Both shall be either copper or painted dark brown.
STANDARDS APPLICABLE TO BOTH TYPES
CATEGORY PROPOSED STANDARDS
Sustainability
Requiring building facades to include a specific percentage of structural elements such as awnings, canopies, overhangs, fins, and covered balconies along east, west, and south -facing frontages to provide shade for pedestrians as well as reduce solar heat gain within buildings. Buildings using the Articulated Form standards would not be permitted to use fins and/or canopies but would be able to meet these standards using other elements.
• Alternatively, an applicant may opt to provide rooftop gardens as a percentage of the roof area, or additional tree canopy within required setbacks or common open space in lieu of the structural elements listed above, as alternative strategies to reduce solar heat gain and building energy consumption.
Allowing rooftop gardens to count towards an existing Common Open Space requirement at a rate of 1.5 to 1.0 (the same as would be credited for an Adaptive Reuse development). For example, a 1,000 square foot rooftop garden would count as 1,500 square feet of required open space.
Projects located outside of Specific Plan areas will be required to provide the same amount of tree canopy in Common Open Space areas as required by the Central District Specific Plan, at a ratio of one 24-inch box tree per project, or one for every 500 square feet of common open space, whichever is greater. For projects with two or more trees, a minimum of 50 percent of trees planted shall be shade trees. Trees shall be selected from the City’s Protected and Native Species List.