Comfort Station - 2005

9001 Wakarusa Street
La Mesa, CA 91942

Located near the Grossmont Healthcare Center in La Mesa, landscape architects and prime consultants Schmidt Design Group designed Briercrest Park to offer City of La Mesa residents and hospital patients a park space for recreation, education, relaxation and healing. To this end, Briercrest’s landscaping includes fragrance gardens, contour gardens with undulating hills, and a butterfly-shaped mosaic created by James Hubbell greeting visitors at the park entry.

The Hubbell & Hubbell architecture studio designed the one-of-a-kind comfort station/restroom building to blend in with the park and contribute artistic touches, while still maintaining its functionality. Features include masonry walls, natural daylighting and ventilation, custom stained-glass windows, shaded/landscaped entry area, private unisex room and storage room. Mosaic tile work has been applied to the building to serve multiple functions of keeping areas clean, indicating that water is near, and integrating the structure into the colorful and whimsical landscaping.

Sculptural Play Area

Phase II includes plans for a sculptural play area with five huts or play sculptures, a frog throne, and butterfly garden, and a butterfly entrance gate designed by James Hubbell.

Grossmont Health Care Center Courtyard and Fountain Design

San Diego, California - 2001

A 20-foot focal area in the center of the entrance courtyard, outlined by round river pebbles and blue tile, surrounding the fountain area, rises out of the patio in natural shapes suggesting life and growth within the earth. The use of stone, both the large boulders and the cut stone, give the space a feeling of age.

The honey quartz stones near the flat area become more textured and natural as they go up on top of what is a bronze wheel-like form growing out of the wall. The bronze form, which has clearly been made by the hand of another human, suggests a sun or a wheel of life.

Water falls gently from the inside of the stone wall. In places it hits the stone and breaks into the light, making a pleasant sound.

The cardinal directions (North, South, East, and West) worked into the stone floor surrounding the fountain add another layer to the courtyard and give a sense of connection to the earth.

Las Piedras Tecate, Mexico

Carefully planned to blend with the surrounding landscape, Las Piedras includes a nature trail, classroom, workshop with office, and theater. Located within a green space developed for the city of Tecate by the Fundacion La Puerta, this project was created in collaboration with Arquitectura Solar, Sarah Brightwood and Enrique Ceballos, among others, to provide a cool, cave-like, magical space for children to learn about nature. Also known as El Centro Ecologico, the buildings were formed with thin-shell concrete construction designed to mimic local boulders. Featured in an article by Felicity Loughrey in Black+White magazine, November 2001, another by Thomas Shess in San Diego Magazine, February 2002, and one by Pat Tyson in Baja Traveler, 2002.

 

Wild Animal Park Seed Bank

The Zoological Society of San Diego chose to construct its new Seed Bank at the Wild Animal Park using straw bales. The 880-square-foot building has stucco-plastered, straw bale-insulated walls built on a traditional frame and foundation. The thick walls will maintain a constant temperature for the seeds of Southern California's most endangered plant species. The Seed Bank was featured in an article by Simone Butler in the January, 2001, issue of ZOONOOZ.

North Shore Cottages Orcas Island, Washington

Located on the north shore of Orcas Island overlooking the Puget Sound is an intimate wood framed bed & breakfast cottage. Hubbell & Hubbell Architects & Artists designed the building to nestle into an old growth cedar grove with a copper roof and chimney that echo the graceful sweep of the cedar branches. Hubbell & Hubbell blur the distinction between art and architecture by incorporating stained glass, mosaic tile, and hand forged wrought iron railings into the building while their use of native woods and stone in the design integrates the structure with its natural surroundings.

www.northshore4kiss.com

 

Rainbow Hill Julian, California, 1991

"Organic Architecture," Architectural Design Magazine, Profile No. 106 - 1995

Built in the San Bernardino Mountains at an altitude of 4,300 feet this family residence has taken ten years to build. Inspired by the spectacular rock formations of the surrounding area it was intended as a retreat into nature, echoing the decomposed, rust-colored granite. Indeed, James Hubbell's sculptural training is evident in this building.

Although the area generally enjoys a temperate climate it can experience strong winds from the east, thick fog from the coast, thunderstorms and droughts. Covering an area of around 1,800 square feet, the main house and guest room had to take into consideration these practical concerns. It has been set into the side of a south-facing hill to shelter from the easterly winds. Furthermore the outdoor patio is protected by a curving stone wall. An extended drought would cause the surrounding woodland to become dry, necessitating a fire-resistant exterior to the building.

The house consists of a main living area with the kitchen, library, solarium, and storage area attached. A guest room is connected by an arcade. The upper floor contains a bedroom, bathroom, balcony and a further guest room.

The architect's working technique is to initially produce quick sketches and clay models which are then used to communicate his ideas with the structural engineer. Flexibility in construction is of paramount importance in a structure of this kind. Therefore black pipe was used for structural elements as it is easy to bend, as are curved I-beams or trusses which were used for supports. This element of experimentation during the early construction of the house is evident in the guest room, where ceiling heights and curves of walls were altered and refined. This now has a flat tiled roof, surrounded by a railing enabling it to be used as a deck. Family involvement was another aspect to realization of 'Rainbow Hill', the Gay Residence. Phil Gay studied building sciences which enabled him to generate the energy calculations for the house. His son Jonathan took a course in residential plumbing and electrical systems.

Craftsmen working at the architect's studio in San Diego produced the plaster, glass and ceramic details which were evolved along with the form of the house and then worked into the finished building. Originally intended to be salmon in color, the building's stone veneer and stucco coat is in fact painted with red, ochre and umber pigments, inspired by the colors of Mexico.

www.rainbowhill.com

 

Pickering Park Issaquah, Washington 1994 - 1995

Designer and Lead Artist: James Hubbell & Milenko Matanovic

Pickering Place Park was designed to bridge two commercial areas that were otherwise inaccessible to pedestrian traffic. The park boasts a 400-seat amphitheater, a fountain, two plazas and a 120' pedestrian bridge spanning an acitve wetland. Inlaid mosaic images depicting native wildlife dot the various pedestrian plazas. Monolithic granite stones decoraed with modern "petroglyphs" illustrating the history of the area form a dramatic backdrop to the amphitheater which is used to stage festivals and community celebrations.

www.pomegranate.org

 

Sea Ranch Chapel Sea Ranch, California, 1984

"Organic Architecture," Architectural Design Magazine, Profile No. 106 -
1995

The Sea Ranch chapel, commissioned by a private party, took nearly a year to complete. This non-denominational chapel is dedicated to the memory of Kirk Ditzler whose drawings were the foundation for the design. The roof gives a sense of sweeping, lifting movement, achieved by its manifold profiles. Its structure is inspired by winged forms, yet can be read in a number of different ways. Yet despite the great variety of shape and form, the 360 foot square chapel, achieves an underlying feeling of unity.

James Hubbell has an almost democratic approach to his work. He involves his coworkers according to their abilities; and in this particular project the work was delegated to Tambe Kumaran. He and a team of highly skilled craftsmen set about realizing Hubbell's design from a small model and 1/4 inch engineering drawings.

The chapel sits on a gently sloping site and is constructed on a six inch concrete slab with 12 inch foundation walls, filled with concrete block. The main structure of the building is made of wood siding which was dried and molded in place to create a shell. The curves of the roof were extremely difficult to accomplish, and Kumaran drew from his boat building experience to achieve both the curves and the chapel's even shingled surface. The materials used for this project are among the architect's favorites: a combination of stained glass, ceramics, metal and plasterwork.

Brightly colored stained glass windows illuminate the interior which is large enough to seat up to 40 people. The interior is adorned by a white plaster 'flower' sculpture which caps the inner space, lining the ceiling and supporting a metal lighting fixture. A redwood pillar and other free form structures, such as a metal and glass screen in the corner, decorate the inside of Sea Ranch Chapel.

Ivy Substation and Media Park

Ivy Substation was built in 1907 by the Los Angeles Pacific Railway Company to house electrical transformers needed to run cable cars. Drew Hubbell was awarded a California Preservation Design Award in 1997 for his work in restoring this Mission Revival-style building in its century-old park setting. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is designated as Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument Number 182.

 

Santa Fe Irrigation District