Building a Reputation : County Design Firms Haul Away Top State Honors

SAN FRANCISCO — Wowing them with opulence in a recession proved to be a winning formula for Bramalea California Inc. Its tract of $1-million-plus homes near Newport Beach captured three top awards and a slew of honorable mentions Thursday in the building industry’s major design competition.

Bramalea was part of a show of strength by county builders and architects at the annual Pacific Coast Builders Conference here this week as, for the second consecutive year, they dominated the conference’s Golden Nugget Awards--the construction industry’s Oscars.

While the big-money projects captured most of the trophies, one county residential project that looked at the other end of the economic spectrum was also cited by judges. The Habitat complex of low-cost condominiums--built last year in Rancho Santa Margarita with labor coming largely from the low-income people selected to buy the units--received a special award for design innovations that helped keep costs down and project quality high.

The Habitat is a joint venture of the nonprofit Habitat for Humanity, a low-cost housing group based in Americus, Ga., and Fieldstone Co., a major Newport Beach home builder with projects throughout Southern California.

In all, the county contingent walked away Thursday with 10 top honors out of 50 prizes, plus 34 merit awards, or honorable mentions, out of 181 for projects in the county. And despite the county’s deserved reputation as one of the costliest markets in the nation, two of the merit awards were for low-cost housing developments.

County architects also shared in awards for a dozen other projects outside the county.

The annual contest, judged by architects and builders from across the state, is part of the Pacific Coast Builders Conference, the nation’s largest regional industry gathering.

Golden Nuggets are among the most prestigious building design awards in the country. Previous winners say an award can be worth thousands of dollars in new business.

“This is the premier award for architectural design in the United States,” said Arthur Danielian, principal of the architectural firm Danielian Associates in Irvine and winner of dozens of Golden Nugget grand awards since the contest began 29 years ago.

In addition to five merit citations Thursday, Danielian Associates won a grand award for best middle-size condo or attached home for one of its designs in the Encore development in Laguna Niguel by Taylor Woodrow Homes of Newport Beach.

“We have never tried to quantify the value of a Golden Nugget, but when your firm is recognized with one of these awards it shows people that you are on the cutting edge,” Danielian said. “And I can assure you that the builders are very, very sensitive to who is winning, because they want the winners on their team.”

If that is the case, McLarand, Vasquez & Partners in Costa Mesa could be one of the state’s busiest architectural firms in coming months.

Principals Ernie Vasquez and Carl McLarand not only strolled to the podium six times Thursday night to accept awards for their Bramalea Newport Coast designs, they also hauled in prizes for 14 other projects they designed or for which they did land planning.

While most of its efforts were in residential design and were rewarded with merit awards, the firm also captured a grand prize for best office or professional building of more than 100,000 square feet for the Water Garden office complex in Santa Monica.

This year’s contest, open for the first time to foreign entries from the Pacific Rim, drew 480 contestants from 14 Western states, British Columbia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Japan.

Bramalea California, the Newport Beach arm of a major Canadian builder, was recognized as builder of the conventional detached home of the year for one of the four floor plans at its Bramalea project, which is on the unincorporated Newport Coast between Laguna Beach and Newport Beach.

In addition, the entire 58-home tract, where prices start at $1.6 million and climb to $2.1 million, was named the year’s best detached residential development with homes costing more than $500,000.

And the model that took best-of-show honors was also named best single-family detached home costing more than $600,000 and more than 3,000 square feet. (The smallest of the four models is 4,918 square feet.)

In a rare sweep, the remaining three Bramalea models were selected as merit award winners in the same category.

Judges called Bramalea’s top model “a magnificent home . . . built on a number of rounds: rounded corners, circular staircase, a rotunda off the entry, visually exciting round windows.” Also cited was its use of twin two-car garages, separated by a courtyard, and a design “reminiscent of the Beverly Hills estates of the 1930s.”

Other grand award winners from Orange County were:

* A double bill from Vintage Communities, the year-old upscale arm of Kaufman & Broad Homes. Vintage, based in Newport Beach, received grand awards for two models in its Vintage Collection development at Foothill Ranch in the hills above Lake Forest. The company was cited as best single-family detached home in two classes: 1,500 to 2,000 square feet and 2,001 to 2,500 square feet. The homes were designed by Kaufman & Broad’s Architectural Services Group in Los Angeles.

* A Fieldstone Co. design in its Valle Vista development in Rancho Santa Margarita, chosen best small-lot, single-family detached home of more than 2,000 square feet. The architect was Bassenian/LagoniArchitects of Santa Ana Heights.

* Taylor Woodrow Homes’ Encore plan for best condo or attached home of 1,200 to 1,600 square feet. Designed by Danielian Associates.

* RecreAction Group of Companies in Newport Beach, best condo or attached home of less than 1,200 square feet, for a design in its Montana del Lago condominium complex in Rancho Santa Margarita. McLarand, Vasquez & Partners was the architect.

The Montana del Lago project also received a merit award in the category for best affordable attached housing, one of two county developments so cited. The other, also in Rancho Santa Margarita, was Los Portillos Condominiums, built by Shawntana Development Co. of Newport Beach and designed by Architects Orange of Orange.

A third county builder, Birtcher Construction Ltd. of Laguna Niguel, also won a merit award for an affordable-housing development, Dominion detached homes in the high-desert community of Apple Valley in San Bernardino County.

Several commercial developments in the county were singled out Thursday for merit awards, including the massive Coto de Caza Country Club; the Twenty Three Corporate Plaza office building in Newport Center, another McLarand, Vasquez design, and Il Fornaio restaurant in Irvine.

The UC Irvine satellite food facility at UCI won a grand award for best retail project.

And the Award Goes to . . .

Orange County builders were a dominate force at the 29th Golden Nugget Awards. (Golden Nuggets are to builders what Oscars are to actors.) The Orange County contingent walked away with 10 of the 50 top honors handed out, and 34 merit awards.

SPECIAL AWARDS

Best of Show Award for Detached Conventional Lot Home of the Year

Project: Bramalea Homes at Newport Coast, unincorporated Newport Beach

Model: 22 Morning View Drive

Builder: Bramalea California Inc., Newport Beach

Architect: McLarand, Vasquez & Partners Inc., Costa Mesa

Judges’ Award for Design Innovation

Project: Habitat, Rancho Santa Margarita

Builder: Habitat for Humanity and Fieldstone Co., Newport Beach

Architect: Berkus Group Architects, Santa Barbara and Irvine

GRAND AWARDS

Retail Project

Project: UC Irvine Satellite Food Facility, Irvine

Builder: Linkletter Construction Inc.

Architect: Fisher-Friedman Assoc.

Small Lot Single-Family Detached Home, Over 2,000 square feet

Project: Valle Vista, Rancho Santa Margarita

Model: Plan 4

Builder: Fieldstone Co., Newport Beach

Architect: Bassenian/Lagoni Assoc., Santa Ana Heights

Single-Family Detached Home, 1,500 to 2,000 square feet

Project: Vintage Collection, Foothill Ranch

Model: Classic Home

Builder: Vintage Communities Inc., Newport Beach

Architect: Kaufman & Broad Architectural Services Group, Los Angeles

Single-Family Detached Home, 2,001 to 2,500 square feet

Project: Vintage Collection, Foothill Ranch

Model: Gathering Home

Builder: Vintage Communities Inc., Newport Beach

Architect: Kaufman & Broad Architectural Services Group, Los Angeles

Condo or Attached Home Under 1,200 square feet

Project: Montana del Lago, Rancho Santa Margarita

Model: Infinity Home

Builder: RGC (RecreActions Group of Companies), Newport Beach

Architect: McLarand, Vasquez & Partners Inc., Costa Mesa

Condo or Attached Home, 1,200 to 1,600 square feet

Project: Encore, Laguna Niguel

Model: Plan 4

Builder: Taylor Woodrow Homes, Newport Beach

Architect: Danielian Assoc., Irvine

Residential Project, Detached Home Over $500,000

Project: Bramalea Homes at Newport Coast, unincorporated Newport Beach

Builder: Bramalea California Inc., Newport Beach

Architect/Land Planner: McLarand, Vasquez & Partners Inc., Costa Mesa

Single-Family Detached Home Over 3,000 square feet, Over $600,000

Project: Bramalea Homes at Newport Coast, unincorporated Newport Beach

Model: 22 Morning View Drive

Builder: Bramalea California Inc., Newport Beach

Architect: McLarand, Vasquez & Partners Inc., Costa Mesa

And the Award Goes to, Los Angeles Times