JERDE | Pacific City

Designed as a casual contemporary seaside village, Pacific City introduces open-air retail, restaurants and entertainment, set adjacent to a new hotel and multifamily residential development. Pacific City's retail maximizes the virtues of this great site, the views, proximity to the sea, site context, and positions the project as the premier destination in Huntington Beach.

Project Type

Retail, Sustainability, Open/Public Space

Location

Huntington Beach, CA

Size

191,100 sq ft

Client

DJM Capital Partners

Executive Architect

SMS Architects

Services

Architecture

Key Features

Ocean views, pedestrian pathways, flexible space for programming, and sustainable design!

Awards

Award of Merit, Best Commercial Project - 200,000 sq ft & over, Gold Nugget Awards

Average Length of Stay Over 3 Hours

Pacific City is part of a dynamic live-work-play community in the heart of Huntington Beach.

Connections to future adjacent hotel and multifamily developments, as well as a park, were integrated into the design.

The architecture blends the traditional massing found on the Mediterranean Coast with elements of California beach lifestyle. The buildings layer back to create view terraces throughout, with residential scale massing that not only help facilitate the ocean views, but blend in with the surrounding neighborhood.

Mediterranean Coastal Massing

California Beach Eclectic

Early massing models and renderings of Pacific City.

Final rendering for Pacific City.

The ground floor level of the project was actually designed to be entirely above grade, allowing visitors to enjoy the ocean views by looking up and over the bordering Pacific Coast Highway.

Buildings are designed to allow phenomenal views of the pier and ocean, complemented by a distinct spatial sequence and pedestrian pathways.

A New Front Porch for Huntington Beach

Balancing vintage and modern, Pacific City offers distinct retail and dining options within an experiential place.

The subtle breaks in the massing evoke a warm and inviting experience that shapes the quintessential "hang-out" spot.

Lot 579 is an eclectic food hall on the ground floor, filled not with the usual cadre or chain restaurants, but with an exciting mix of unique, local eateries.

The pitched roof and other details are a nod to the architecture of the surrounding residential neighborhoods.

Lot 579 is also used as a transition between Pacific City's retail offerings and the adjacent boutique hotel, with many of the latter's guests using the food hall as an additional amenity.

Materials & Texture

The project also features sustainable design in the building materials and landscaping, and uses a natural color palate that reflects and complements the beach environment. The ground plane is rich, warm, and textured, with indigenous California landscaping, while throughout soft warm tones of white and grey combine with details of wood railings and trellises.