San Diego, California, USA

Offering unprecedented views toward the canyon, Balboa Park, and the Pacific Ocean, the Quince residential complex designed by Works Progress Architecture for CAST Capital Partners is a mixed-use development comprising two buildings, a central plaza, and carefully curated open spaces.

The Quince has recently been awarded a 2023 American Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

Two masses play at the base to allow for a strong connection to the canyon and the Quince Street bridge.

Open-air bridges connect across the gap.

One tower extends upward, creating he other stops short, transitioning down to the smaller scale neighborhood and resulting in a large amenity deck facing the ocean.

The south leg aligns itself with the western street frontage and parallels the canyon edge.

This leg hosts another amenity pool deck with southern exposure and views out to the ocean.

This 17-story structure incorporates multiple setbacks as you move vertically upwards.

Large grand arches along the tower’s base and smaller arched windows patterned across the building’s summit reference the historic architectural language of San Diego and the work of Irving Gill who had a significant impact on the architecture in this area.

Within the larger massing, smaller objects push and pull to create extensive private outdoor spaces for most units.

The main amenity plaza accepts the canyon and creates a layered outdoor space that hosts active landscape areas and a filtered lobby experience that is reminiscent of traversing the canyon.

The massing capitalizes on the unique vastness and variety of views of the adjacent Balboa Park to the east, Maple Canyon, and the Quince Street Bridge to the south, and the San Diego Bay and Pacific Ocean views to the south and west.

Project: Quince
Architects: Works Progress Architecture
Design Team: Carrie Strickland, Mark Nye, Adam Hostetler, Holly Kang, and Lola Carda
Client: CAST Development/ CAST Capital Partners
Photographers: Red Machine Studios