Updated illustrations have been published for the adaptive reuse of the fire-damaged Chandler Building at 2449 Dwight Way in Berkeley’s Southside neighborhood. The project aims to double the floor count in the vacant corner building. Evans Property Company is the property owner responsible for the application.
2449 Dwight Way seen from across Telegraph Avenue, rendering by Studio KDA
2449 Dwight Way floor plans, illustration by Studio KDA
The 82-foot-tall structure is expected to yield around 50,400 square feet, including 46,700 square feet of housing and 3,700 square feet of retail. The project will include 63 apartments, of which three will be deed-restricted as affordable housing. Unit sizes will vary with 26 studios, 12 one-bedrooms, 13 two-bedrooms, and 12 three-bedrooms. Parking will be included for 34 bicycles and no vehicles.
Studio KDA is responsible for the design. New illustrations show that the top-floor exterior cornice has been significantly reduced in size, in an aesthetic shift that might also reduce overall costs. The new facade will be clad with GFRC, cement plaster, metal tiles, and thinset tiling. The existing masonry brick ornamentation on the Chandler Building will be retained. Residential open space will be integrated into the first and eighth floors, with landscape architecture by Wildland Architecture.
2449 Dwight Way seen from across Telegraph Avenue, rendering by Studio KDA
2449 Dwight Way, image via Google Street View
The historic structure, named The Chandler Building, was first built in 1909 as a one-story commercial structure and was later expanded in 1921. The building was damaged by a fire in 2015, displacing 30 residents immediately and prompting commercial tenants to vacate by 2018.
The quarter-acre property is located at the corner of Telegraph Avenue and Dwight Way, across from the People’s Park development. The estimated cost and timeline for construction have not yet been shared.
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They had it… they got the look right. The addition matched the existing just enough but also stand out as fresh and distinct.
And then they sh*t this thing out. Like… why? In Berkeley fashion, metal panels had to be included. The heck is that awkward band that’s more pronounced than the cornice? Why’d the eliminate all depth? Why did they make their great proposal so watered down and ugly?
One of the saddest VE’s I’ve seen in a hot minute.
What answer is there besides value engineering? The new design is cheaper, ergo they will build it.
It’s not THAT bad. And what project is not value-engineered? That’s how this game works. You produce some gorgeous renderings to snooker in the likes of you, and then you pull the rug out and throw out a drawing or two showing what the actual building may look like clad in Dryvit and Hardiplank. It’s always this way.
Loser mentality.
The top of the addition looks unfinished.
Yikes, the original version was SO MUCH better. There is no reason to allow this unfinished looking thing to be approved when there was already a very good version. This sort of corner cutting is what turns people in NIMBYS. I hope they are not allowed to “value engineer” (destroy) this