Markethouse Lofts San Jose, California
Adjacent to 2 apartment complexes and a city park, Markethouse Lofts is in close proximity to San Jose's historic Japantown.
Location
San Jose, California
Sector
Residential
Service
Architecture
Client
Regis Homes of Northern California
Status
Completed
Size
65,413 SF
53 Units
One of the major challenges of the project was making space for 53 apartments on a narrow, 1.5-acre triangle of land abutting an active rail line. Steinberg Hart grouped the apartments into five similar, yet distinct buildings that symbolize a collection of box cars; the smaller building size also helps mitigate vibration and noise caused by the passing trains.
These groupings form a series of outdoor spaces that include the entry, a courtyard, passages, and a plaza. There are three different apartment layouts, each based on a “one-room house” concept and containing open floor plans, double height spaces, loft levels, and customizable features that provide maximum flexibility for residents. Each façade presents its own slightly different character, while maintaining a similar architectural language through massing, materials, and detailing.
Shifts in building planes, accumulated by color placement, provide a connection with the texture-rich brick industrial buildings nearby. These elevations are designed to resemble a series of layers that peel away to reveal the building’s contents. The material palette of cement plaster, masonry block, and metal railing and awnings also draws from the surrounding industrial context. The podium building provides underground parking and landscaping opportunities above grade.