Derby Street – New Detached ADU
Berkeley, CA
This one-bedroom Berkeley ADU takes full advantage of the allowed height with vaulted wood ceilings and clerestory windows to make small spaces feel large and inviting. Modern details provide a feeling of warmth and excitement while referencing the material palette of the existing bungalow in the front of the lot. The ADU is oriented for privacy from the main house, and enjoys its own side yard and patio.
Gunkel Architecture was Design Architect and Architect of Record for New Avenue Homes design/build. Photography by UL Real Estate Media.
Warwick Avenue – Second Unit
Oakland, CA
This flexible second unit allows for easy access via a creative bridge from the main dwelling. The owners envision using it either as a home office space or as a rental unit to another young family in the co-housing spirit with shared outdoor and indoor spaces in the main house. Another feature adding to the function is the tiered deck which steps up over the living room to create a higher volume below and to create seating/lounging options above.
Gunkel Architecture was Design Architect and Architect of Record for New Avenue Homes design/build.
Estates Drive – New Home
Oakland, CA
This contemporary Montclair hillside home takes advantage of its location. The 3,800 square-foot, five-bedroom house, nestled into a large, down-slope site, offers sweeping views of the bay, a seamless indoor/outdoor experience, multiple guest suites, abundant entertaining space and a soaring central atrium. The Estates Drive home responds to the increasing demand for modern, open-plan homes that balance stately minimalism and warm material-authenticity.
Serra Drive – New ADU
San Francisco, CA
This two-bedroom ADU playfully references the mid-century modern flourishes found in the design of the existing main house. The unit enjoys a bright, warm open plan complete with a private patio and deck. The flexible layout allows the homeowners to either rent out the ADU in its entirety or in part, with a second bedroom suite utilized as an office for the front house.
Native American Health Center
Oakland, CA
The Native American Health Clinic in the Fruitvale district of Oakland serves the urban Native community, providing a range of support including medical, dental, and behavioral health services. They were able to annex the building next door and Gunkel Architecture worked with them on both interior tenant improvements and exterior updates to integrate the two buildings.
Redwood Oaks Apartments
Redwood City, CA
Redwood Oaks Apartments was a substantial renovation of a 36-unit affordable family housing community and the construction of a new community building. The intention of the work was to preserve and enhance the existing affordable housing, and to grow the sense of community on the site.
The property was built in the 1950s with construction methods and materials appropriate at the time but no longer acceptable. The renovation of the units included a new electrical system, windows, doors, and installation of insulation, as well as foundation stabilization of one of the buildings. Some units were renovated to provide handicap accessibility, and all units got new interiors that focus on universal accessibility, including flooring, lighting, kitchen cabinets, door handles and plumbing fixtures that are ADA-compliant. In addition, the emptied pool was filled in and a new community building was built to provide a gathering place for the residents. It included a community room with small kitchenette, a centralized laundry room, and a space for staff and service providers to meet with residents.
Photography by Christian Klugmann.
Homeless Resource Center
Livermore, CA
The Homeless Resource Center provides various 24/7 wrap-around services for individuals who are experiencing homelessness or are in need of services critical to their well-being. Built within Vineyard, a larger innovative multi-use development, the center’s layout was developed from the complex sharing of spaces and resources that was required. A long double-sided lobby provides simultaneous access from the street to those arriving by foot, bicycle, or bus and from the rear parking lot and community courtyard. Check-in for services occurs in the lobby, as well as mailboxes for individuals who currently do not have a home address. On one side of the lobby is a community room that functions as a waiting area and place to decompress, as well as offices, and laundry and shower facilities. On the other side is a large multi-purpose room that serves different functions throughout the day. It functions as a dining room and is directly connected to the new commercial kitchen that provides meals daily to anyone in need. It can be rapidly set up for trainings and meetings. In the evenings, it transitions to a shelter that can accommodate 30 individuals.
Photography by Argast Photography
Vineyard
Livermore, CA
Vineyard is an innovative mixed-use development to help solve the region’s housing crisis, consisting of 24 units of permanent supportive housing, a resource center, and a non-profit food service kitchen. The former use of the site included many of the same elements, with an informal network of faith-based and service groups providing assisting the area’s unhoused residents.
Substantial programming and collaboration with almost two dozen stakeholders was required to develop a cohesive design that reflects the overall vision. The site layout simultaneously weaves together shared functions and promote layers of social interaction, while gently separating residential units from the resource center and neighborhood spaces. Entries to the site and buildings, open space, and parking respond sensitively to serve the community while maintaining privacy, security, and a sense of home.
Photography by Argast Photography
Valle Verde
Napa, CA
Valle Verde is a new 24-unit affordable family housing community near the heart of Napa. It was designed in conjunction with the neighboring Heritage House project, an adaptive reuse project designed by our office. The two properties – although serving different populations – are owned and managed by the same non-profit, and will share a site entrance, staff and elements of a shared community. It was important that the two properties complement one another on the site and in the community without compromising a more contemporary design for the new building.
Valle Verde was designed with constraints becoming opportunities. The property’s adjacency to a creek and the site slope, the large underground stormwater pipes under the site, the parking requirements, and the odd shape of the site as it related to Heritage House each contributed to the unique shape and layout. These constraints enabled natural through ventilation and light, as well as an ability for nearly all units to have a view of both the creek and the playground.
Photography by Argast Photography
8th Street – New Detached ADU
Berkeley, CA
The owners of this site sought to transform their property, creating a more spacious, modern, and appealing living space. This included the complete renovation and rear addition of an existing house that was small and dilapidated, as well as a new detached ADU. One of the main goals of the project was to optimize connectivity between the front house and the ADU, integrating them into a unified indoor/outdoor family compound and creating a cohesive flow throughout the property.
Photography by Open Homes Photography Inc.