ATTACHMENT J
Design Guidelines Applicable to the Project
Design-Related Policies in the Land Use Element of the General Plan:
4.10: Locate and design buildings to relate to and frame major public streets, open spaces, and cityscape…
4.11: Require that development demonstrates a contextual relationship with neighboring structures and sites addressing such elements as building scale, massing, orientation, setbacks, buffering, the arrangement of shared and private open spaces, visibility, privacy, automobile and truck access, impacts of noise and lighting, landscape quality, infrastructure, and aesthetics.
7.1: Design each building as a high-quality, long term addition to the City’s urban fabric; exterior design and building materials shall exhibit permanence and quality, minimize maintenance concerns, and extend the life of the building.
7.2: Allow for the development of a diversity of buildings styles. Support innovative and creative design solutions to issues related to context and environmental sustainability.
7.3: Require that new and adaptively re-used buildings are designed to respect and complement the defining built form, massing, scale, modulation, and architectural detailing of their contextual setting.
10.7: Encourage sustainable practices for landscape materials, landscape design, and land development.
23.3: Provide appropriate setbacks, consistent with the surrounding neighborhood, along the street frontage and, where there are setbacks, ensure adequate landscaping is provided.
25.4: Require that new development protect community character by providing architecture, landscaping, and urban design of equal or greater quality than existing and by respecting the architectural character and scale of adjacent buildings.
Design-Related Policies in the East Pasadena Specific Plan:
Section 6.5: Private Realm Design Guidelines for all Subareas:
6.5.2: Building Architecture, Massing and Height
• …The specific plan recommends that building designs should have an elegant, timeless and permanent quality to the heritage and climate of Pasadena.
Buildings should not be copies of historic buildings but should draw from their positive features. Features of this type of character include:
o Consistent materials and color palette;
o Articulated building planes and height to create a pleasing variety and pedestrian scale;
o Emphasis on horizontal lines and buildings that integrate the indoors with the outside;
o Arcades, awnings, trellises and canopies for shade;
o Design emphasis on entrances to shops and paseos;
o Fountains, courtyards and landscaped features and elements of Pasadena’s architectural heritage in high activity areas… • To promote a “pedestrian-friendly” character and avoid large blocky facades, building facades should be articulated with awnings, pilasters, bay windows, a distinct base, recessed display windows, a cornice or varied roofline. o Buildings should be designed to be attractive from all directions. Where rear or sides of buildings are visible from adjacent streets, these facades shall receive equal design treatment as the front or main façade. o Variation of roof line height and planes is encouraged to create a lively environment.
Design Guidelines for Neighborhood Commercial and Multi-family Residential Districts:
1.5: The constituent parts of new projects (building, open space, landscape, parking) should be internally integrated in image and form, while relating compatibly to those of neighboring buildings.
2.2 Activating the street. New multi-family and mixed-use buildings should be designed with frontages that activate the street by providing direct access to their ground floor dwellings and commercial spaces.
4.2 Windows and doorways should be designed to reflect the character and size of the rooms to which they belong. The composition of street and courtyard-facing elevations should organize these windows, doors, and the space between them into a clear and legible pattern and appropriate to both the style of the building and the scale of the street it faces.
5.1 Provide well-marked, articulated building entrances oriented to streets and public space.
7.1 Buildings should be scaled to respond to their context by sensitively and positively addressing the scale and massing of their adjacent neighbors.
7.2 The rear and/or side elevations of new buildings that are visible from the public realm should be designed with equal care and quality as the front or principal façade.
7.3 The placement and size of windows in side yards and rear yards should respect the privacy and need for light and air of existing buildings.
10.3 If blank walls cannot be avoided, then they should be detailed, painted, or landscaped in a manner that renders the walls attractive to pedestrians.
Applicants should explain why the use of a blank wall or walls cannot be avoided in the design narrative submittal as described in Appendix A3.
11.1: All buildings should incorporate: a full array of architectural elements associated with their chosen style; the compositional, structural, and constructional logic associated with that style; and the material logic associated with that style.
11.2: The style of a new building should be clear and consistent, whether traditional or contemporary. Hybrid projects are discouraged.
11.4: Contemporary architecture. Buildings designed in contemporary styles may adhere to a set of rules that is established and followed through by the designer.
The design strategy must be described in conformance with Appendix A3 (Preliminary Review).
12.2: For buildings large enough to be composed of more than one volume, an architectural logic, such as a clear hierarchy of massing, should be evident.
12.4 Proportion. Building masses and building facades should be designed with simple, harmonious proportions. Arbitrary proportions should be avoided. All architectural elements (porches, balconies, canopies, doors, windows, etc.) should relate stylistically and proportionally to one another.
14.1: Details. Window and door assemblies should be chosen that conform to the precedents of traditional styles or the intentions of contemporary design in terms of material, dimension, and detail.
14.3: Configurations. The orientation and proportion of openings should be consistent with the architectural language chosen for a project. Openings should relate to one another according to a clear system of composition and structure. a. The orientation and proportion of openings should be consistent with the architectural language chosen for a project. Openings should relate to one another according to a clear system of composition and structure. c. Building elevations should exhibit a hierarchy of window sizes to differentiate the more formal rooms from the more informal rooms.
16.2: Amenities. Courtyards and forecourts should provide design elements such as seating areas, fountains, and/or outdoor fireplaces to encourage their use as outdoor rooms or gathering places.
16.8: Paving materials should be consistent with the architectural language of the building. Unit pavers are preferred over stamped concrete.
18.0: Landscape and hardscape. Landscape and hardscape should enhance the character of new buildings, address the Pasadena climate, and facilitate sustainable water use and drainage strategies.
18.1: Landscape and hardscape design should be compatible with the chosen architectural style of a building.