The Q

Project Details

Project Description

The Q is a seven-story mixed-use residential, office, and commercial development in the Little Italy district of downtown San Diego. The building integrates all of these uses within a small 50x200 foot infill lot while also saving the oldest home in Little Italy.

The Q promotes a green live-work environment, absent the necessity of the automobile. The 27 apartments above the ground floor have high performance floor to ceiling glass shaded by horizontal fins that provide incredible views to downtown San Diego and the bay while lowering heat gain. Operable windows provide adequate cross–ventilation, eliminating the need for air-conditioning. A diverse array of unit sizes range from studios to a 7,000 sq ft penthouse; the architect serving as both the developer and contractor lives in and walks to work next door in the adjacent office space.

In addition to a green lifestyle, the building integrates 132 photovoltaic panels on the roof to provide 100% of the building's common area power requirements. Vertical fins on the backside of the building provide natural lighting during the day and glowing slits at night reckoning the adjacent building property line. Unlike most apartment buildings, the internal hallways are naturally ventilated reducing overall building consumption dramatically. Concrete construction increases the thermal mass keeping the building at a much more consistent temperature without the need for considerable insulation. With the exposed concrete being the finished surface wherever possible, waste during construction was reduced and VOCs were almost completely eliminated. Structure becomes finish and finish becomes structure.

The historically designated A.W. Pray house, a 1889 Gothic Victorian structure, was a key element along the main artery of Little Italy. Utilization and restoration of the existing home, incorporated within the new ground floor retail, create a bond with the existing fabric of the neighborhood. Along this ground level are home to San Diego’s top rated restaurants and an award winning coffee shop. The invigorating energy of the street frontage carries through the rest of the building.

More than just a building, the Q has become a trademark of San Diego lifestyle. The name ‘the Q’ derives from James Bonds’ Q, the character with all of the latest and greatest gadgets efficiently integrated into existing devices we know and use everyday. The goal of the building was to become just that.