Mr. Robinson | San Diego, California | 2015

Architects: Jonathan Segal
General Contractor: Jonathan Segal
Photographer: Matthew Segal

Mr Robinson is located at the important entry to Hillcrest and North Park on Park Blvd in San Diego, California. What used to be an important hub of transit in San Diego is slowly transitioning back. Along this transit corridor Mr. Robinson’s 7 story mass expands upward and outward to the property lines to introduce a high-density mixed use project on a property that has been a blighted auto repair shop since the late 60s.

Programmatically this building introduces a new true “mixed use” concept. Office suites, affordable housing, and market rate residential exist on every floor of the building, only differentiated by the spatial design within each suite. At the base of the building commercial restaurant space spills out onto the plazas and patios showcasing the Southern California outdoors.

This concept proves the ability to create a fusion between both live and work while allowing all socioeconomic groups to exist in harmony without label. The form of Mr Robinson is at first a cube defined by the continuous roofline and four corners.

At the southeast corner the 70-foot defining wall is only attached by this continuous roofline and powerfully completes the cube in the exterior plaza. However as light and air is needed to permeate through the core within this cube, fingers develop.

Although still true to the overall form of the cube, these fingers relieve otherwise dark interior spaces and allow for true transparency. The expansive glazing of the building appears light and at night glows like a lantern, while the cantilevered outdoor decks push out beyond the glazing to celebrate the outdoors.

To embrace our temperate climate, Mr Robinson utilizes natural light and ventilation in all common areas including hallways and the underground garage in order to reduce consumption through passive means.