The study of Santa Ana’s talavera tiles led to a field study that developed a general masterplan and ground plan. Each parcel of the masterplan was aimed at tackling a different community need, such as food, wellness, education, and entertainment. A colorful trellis held the parcels together, distinguishing programs via color. This parcel looks at the combination of a work and play oriented space, where live-work units are paired with places of entertainment and social unity.

Live-work units connected to the ground provide small businesses and opportunity to connect with the community. On the upper levels of the building, these live-work units take a different approach to the typology, where the work space can be imagined as something new, such as a private Zoom room or a photography studio. A workshop at the ground level promotes local businesses through occasional events, such as a florist hosting a floral arrangement workshop to engage with the community and increase interest in the business.

Popular forms are inspired by historic live-work identities of Downtown Santa Ana to create a playful critique and celebration of the city’s diversity of architectural typologies. Sloped and vaulted roofs that are identifiable from the outside are brought indoors to enhance the interior spatial qualities on all floors and as a place to tuck away mechanical fixtures. These roofs slope down and step down with the building massing towards the promenade and trellis that covers it to bridge the large building scale with the much smaller human scale.