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Essential City
Public Transportation Plan
Essential City
New Zoning Overlay
What is an Urban Typology?
Urban typologies are not often understood as the powerful pieces of the complex puzzle of city making that they are. They have the power to create, or to solve, a lot of environmental problems. While we recognise archetypes such as the skyscraper, the row house, or the detached suburban singe family home as universal, Essential City reinvents other classics including the modernist slab tower with integrated social services, healthcare and retail, courtyard cluster housing, row housing with corner shops, traditional main-street shop-below-apartment-above types, and also, invents a completely new type too, the Zipper. Without further ado!
Essential City
Type B Zoning Overlay
TYPE B1 : Axonometric
TYPE B1 : Plan
B1: MEDIUM DENSITY 2-STOREY RESIDENTIAL
The Big Idea: Separate the garages from units and therefore have less roadways per residential lot, allowing greater dwelling unit density, and less cost of roadworks, less water runoff, less heat island effect. Internalise circulation courtyards for security and for passive solar control. Create a central swimming pool and pickleball area that is shared by two separate street addresses. 16 single-level apartments, 8 of which are on the 2nd floor which are accessible via elevators. Four 3-bedroom apartments accessed from the ground floor. A great mix for intergenerational living and assisted living.
TYPE B2 : Plan
B2: MEDIUM DENSITY 2-STOREY RESIDENTIAL HOUSING & URBAN FARMING MIX
The Big Idea: As per the general format benefits of B1, however Type B2 flips back to back allowing the interstitial spaces to become urban farming space for the cultivation of vineyards, orchards and other less labor and water intensive forms of food production. The vineyards express themselves to the main street network and effectively creating the impression of living in farmlands.
TYPE B2 : Plan showing vineyards between the housing developments
TYPE B2 : Axonometric
Essential City
Type C Zoning Overlay
TYPE C1 : Plan, Section, Elevation
TYPE C2 : Plan
C1 & C2: MEDIUM DENSITY 2.5-STOREY RESIDENTIAL MU ROW HOUSES
The Big Idea: The row house makes a comeback with each duplex or triplex unit’s back garden opening into communal courtyards that share a large swimming pool. As either rental apartments or condominiums, this typology has corner cafes, delicatessens and small convenience stores on each corner.
TYPE C3: Plan
C2: MEDIUM DENSITY 2.5-STOREY RESIDENTIAL + BASEMENT COURTARDS
The Big Idea: The bedrock of typical medium-to-high density residential apartments in Southern California, these courtyard schemes offer a sheltered courtyard above 1/2 level basement with a pool and generous outward-facing garden apartments.
Essential City
Type D Zoning Overlay
TYPE D: Streetscape Elevation & Sections
TYPE D: Ground floor uses include Daycare, Navigation Center, Healthcare and other social services. Parking provisions will vary depending on the functionality of the Big Box.
D: VEILED BIG-BOX / WAREHOUSING & RESIDENTIAL MU
The Big Idea: Workers need to live closer to light industrial, vertical farming, manufacturing, fruit packaging, distribution and discount retail centres. These “big boxes” are generally an eyesore and difficult to get to. By sharing the parking between daytime and nighttime use for residents-versus-shoppers, an efficient synergies are achieved. This affordable housing can include “Navigation Centers” for the homeless and start the process of ‘up-skilling’ and finding more permanent forms of housing and work for the homeless.
Essential City
Type E Zoning Overlay
TYPE E2: Cross Section
E: GOLF COURSE AGGLOMMERATED ADUs.
The Big Idea: The density on existing golf courses is extremely low, (0.05 du/ac and less) whereas they potentially hold massive value to homeowners and homeowner associations by virtue of the new Californian ADU legislation that could unlock hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate, and reducing operating costs to boot!
TYPE E1: Pool view
Essential City
Type F Zoning Overlay
F1: NEIGHBORHOOD RETAIL MU 1 STOREY
The Big Idea: To preserve the heritage, frontier character and charm of many “Main Street”-type places in desert cities, a specific zoning may be required to revitalise these urban strips without over-catering to parking and bulk. Live-work should also be encouraged in this typology as it will allow more creative hospitality and retail to flourish.
TYPE F2 : Plan, Section, Elevation
F2: NEIGHBORHOOD RETAIL MU 3 STOREY
The Big Idea: Ever thought about the convenience of living above a supermarket or shopping mall? This seemingly humble concept of one floor of apartments above medium-sized retail spaces is a great way to densify and cater for the elderly or young families who work in the area. The double height arcades create shaded streets for people to walk on in all kinds of weather.
TYPE F3 : Axo & Elevation
F3: RETAIL PODIUM 2 + RESIDENTIAL 2
The Big Idea: Conceived for much smaller blocks and a finer pedestrian grain, this typology of double-volume arcaded streetscape with setback mini-towers evokes the design districts of downtown Beverly Hills or the Champs Élysées.
TYPE F2 : Shaded arcades to streetscape
Essential City
Type G Zoning Overlay
G: EDUCATION AND STUDENT HOUSING
The Big Idea: A resilient city of 500 000 extra people needs educational institutions to teach sustainability, forward-thinking hospitality, urban agriculture, climate sciences amongst other growth industries. Student housing needs to be integrated into campus life for maximum synergies and affordability.
TYPE G : Institutional, modern aesthetic
Essential City
Type H Zoning Overlay
TYPE H : Option 3 selected due to view opportunities
TYPE H : Pedestrian priority central mall with public parking on the periphery
TYPE H : Axonometric
H: RESORT RESIDENTIAL MU
The Big Idea: Hotels have a large part to play in Essential City. Responsible hospitality means providing worker housing on site, if not adjacent to site. It means providing serviced apartments that are accessible to public transport. It means clustering around well-activated pedestrian priority public domains. It means contributing to innovating food harvesting and waste recycling practices. The blending of resort and residential typologies into one mixed-use zone creates a permanent intergenerational community and brings life to the zone all-year round. The ground floor and 4th floor pedestrian arcades are dedicated to social services, healthcare facilities, retail, cultural, 3rd spaces, places of worship and entertainment spaces.
The typical type H resort/residential outdoor mall is book-ended by a low-rise retail/commercial centre (H1) and a high rise resort/hotel/casino (H2), at either end of the mall. Bus stops are arranged at either end of the pedestrian priority mall and parking is provided for each block on the periphery creating a calm, safe public domain internally.
The H3 and H4 buildings scale up and down respectively in tune with the height gradient proposed which means one set of buildings gets views over the other. H3 contains a luxury resort/condo/serviced apartment typology whereas H4 has space provision at the podium level for art galleries, museums, retail and event spaces for public engagement.
As we move to the centre of Type H, the building types change to a mix of condominiums and affordable apartments that have ground floors dedicated to retail spaces and restaurants. A portion of the apartments accommodate adjacent hotel staff and provide housing closer to work. Potential antisocial behaviour in the affordable housing is managed by virtue of the hotel control over its staff. The design of the public domain in the centre of the mall is more community focussed and small scale and becomes a residential neighbourhood in its own right.
H7 and H8 are conceived again as mix of luxury and affordable rental accommodation with ground floor retail, services, bars and restaurants. The higher density H7 offers affordable accommodation in terms of the 20% criteria, whereas H8 offers large condos with gathering spaces on the podium level which connects, it all the other buildings by way of a dedicated podium-level walkway.
The mall splays open at either end of the long axis, encouraging gathering for seasonal festivals and interfacing with the city in this visually connected way. Like a zipper, the Type H typology zips together two separate parts of the city and this end holds the “event pyramid” which is controlled by H9 but essentially a stand-alone facility for support of cultural events and exhibitions.
And finally...
G: EDUCATION AND STUDENT HOUSING
The Big Idea: A resilient city of 500 000 extra people needs educational institutions to teach sustainability, forward-thinking hospitality, urban agriculture, climate sciences amongst other growth industries. Student housing needs to be integrated into campus life for maximum synergies and affordability.
G: EDUCATION AND STUDENT HOUSING
The Big Idea: A resilient city of 500 000 extra people needs educational institutions to teach sustainability, forward-thinking hospitality, urban agriculture, climate sciences amongst other growth industries. Student housing needs to be integrated into campus life for maximum synergies and affordability.
Essential City
Type I Zoning Overlay
I: URBAN FARMING - Viticulture, Permaculture & Vertical Farming
The Big Idea: The Big Idea: Everything can be a farm. Every.Square.Foot. Vertically and horizontally, indoors and out, permaculture or hi-tech! Viticulture too. Essential City seeks to allow residents in respective zoning overlays the opportunity to grow their own fruits and vegetables, raise certain waterfowl and fowl, or contribute to a food cooperative that feeds the hospitality industry, farm-to-table. Who doesn’t want to live on a wine farm?
TYPE I: Urban Farming Market with Vertical Farm in background
ALL ZONES: Summary of Dwelling Density, FAR and Coverage of the new zones
