Block 27

This article appeared in the July 2020 issue of ARCHITECT.

In Sacramento’s Newton Booth neighborhood, R Street is lined by a sea of single-family bungalows on one side, and light industrial buildings on the other. Block 27, a 4,505-square-foot, four-unit apartment complex, makes use of an infill lot right along that border, targeting a neglected segment of the market in one of California’s most populous cities.

Designed by the Milwaukee-based Johnsen Schmaling Architects, Block 27 contains two each of one- and two-bedroom apartments; units range from 675 to 900 square feet. Given the lot’s tight constraints, the building stretches upward, resulting in a three story height that begins to bridge the gap between the low-lying residential area to the south and the increasingly tall commercial centers to the north. “What intrigued us about the site was that weird dichotomy between these two typologies,” says co-founding principal Sebastian Schmaling, AIA.

Clad in a simple palette of cedar and cementitious stucco, the building’s façade grows increasingly transparent as it rises from a monolithic wooden base to a framed, open-air terrace on the third floor. “We carved out that third floor so the façade dematerializes and you see the sky through those openings instead of an enclosed volume,” Schmaling says. “The intent here was to erode the volume as it rises up to the top, and reduce the visual weight that it has on the street.”

An irregular pattern of floor-to-ceiling windows and vertical yellow stripes punctuates the upper two levels of the façade, and helps to distinguish the multifamily building further from the stark industrial buildings nearby. “Some are just painted metal strips, and others are LED light strips that overlay the entire composition with their own order,” Schmaling says.

Although Block 27’s compact lot did not allow for a sprawling, grassy yard, the architects provided outdoor space with the building’s shared, third-floor terrace. Instead of individual balconies, which would have been pocket-sized and difficult to position, this 680-square-foot communal space encourages interaction among residents.

The architects also wove sustainability into Block 27’s common areas, electing to include bike storage in lieu of parking. The choice not only preserved the project’s valuable square footage, the lack of parking also encourages residents to take advantage of more sustainable mass transit, including a nearby light rail line.

Block 27’s design not only bridges the divides between building typologies and residents, it also works to help close the gaps in Sacramento’s available housing by focusing on the often-ignored middle market. “There’s a whole strand of the population that are making a decent living but get priced out of attractive housing options,” Schmaling says. He hopes that Block 27—with its focus on design and amenities, balanced with its small unit size and resulting relatively lower price point—can help to provide “one piece of the puzzle” of housing inventory in the region.

Project Credits
Project: Block 27, Sacramento, Calif.
Client: Indie Capital
Architect/Landscape Architect/Lighting Designer: Johnsen Schmaling Architects, Milwaukee .
Brian Johnsen, AIA, Sebastian Schmaling, AIA (principals-in-charge); Andrew Cesarz,
P.J. Murrill, Ben Penlesky, Angelina Torbica, Matt Wendorf (project team)
Structural Engineer: Core 4 Engineering
MEP Engineer: LP Consulting Engineers
Civil Engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers
General Contractor: Indie Capital Constructors
Life Safety: Ultimate Fire Systems
Size: 4,505 gross square feet; 680 square feet (communal roof terrace)
Cost: $921,000

Materials and Sources
Appliances: Samsung
Bathroom Fixtures: Kohler
Carpet: Mohawk
Cabinets: Ikea and custom
Countertops: Silestone
Exterior Wall Systems: Stucco: Sto; Wood: Cedar
Gypsum: USG
Hardware: INOX
HVAC: Trane
Insulation: Johns Manville
Kitchen fixtures: Grohe
Lighting: Lumiere; DMF; Artemide
Paints and Finishes: Benjamin Moore
Roofing: Johns Manville
Tile: Iris
Windows and Doors: Sierra Pacific Windows; Milgard Windows & Doors