Photo courtesy Zillow Media Experts

Treehouse

San Diego

Award of Merit

Submitted by: BDE Architecture

Owner: Raintree Partners

Lead Design Firm: BDE Architecture

General Contractor: ECON Construction

Crews tore down three aging apartment buildings that held 12 apartments to make way for 185 apartment homes, providing a 15-fold increase in housing on the same Bankers Hill parcel.

Fitting that many residences onto the site required a hybrid structure, with five levels of Type IIIA wood framing stacked on four levels of Type IA concrete. The team worked through load transfer, lateral force resistance and constructibility with city engineers, receiving approval for two code variances: to use areas of refuge as an accessible means of egress and to use conventional wood framing where fire-retardant-treated lumber is normally required.

Balcony drainage on a building of this density required multiple drainage conditions and a lot of plumbing, which the design aimed to hide as much as possible.…