Rancho San Ramon

Rancho San Ramon
Client: SWA Group, Shapell Homes
Location: San Ramon, California
Design: Kory Bieg, Casper Mork-Ulnes

The project includes six buildings located in a park designed by the Sausalito based landscape firm SWA Group. The park is centered in a typical suburban development. The design hybridizes the form and material of contemporary suburban housing and the agricultural buildings they have replaced. The result is a new geometry that utilizes conventional wood frame construction to formally respond to the complex circulatory networks of the park. The surface also peels away from the building to provide seating, screening, and additional storage.

The buildings are naturally ventilated and lit through openings in the wood slat surface. We used global illumination capable computer software to space the slats according to the lighting needs of the internal program.

The plank size and the angle of the wood slat surface also vary to deter graffiti. Where the surface is most prone to graffiti, the wood is replaced by a resistant cement board panel. The variation between the two materials produces a secondary pattern that further reduces the likelihood of vandalism by providing an undesirable surface to paint.