Del Monte Shopping Center
Project: Del Monte Shopping Center, Monterey, CA
Architectural Renderings: Olof Dahlstrand, Rory Fonseca
https://archives.ced.berkeley.edu/collections/dahlstrand-olof
Approach to Design—
The unusually beautiful site, the tradition of local architecture and a mild year-round climate combined in the programming of the Del Monte Shopping Center to make a unique opportunity for shopping center planning. In order to preserve the character of its site and to keep its trees intact to the greatest possible extent, the shopping center was conceived both in plan organization and in visual terms as a hillside village. This allowed a freer building arrangement and the possibility of adjusting the buildings and the parking or the sloping ground with a minimum of grading.
Character—
The individual buildings vary in size, giving a variety in height and silhouette to the overall composition. The large hipped roofs were from the earliest inception and though to be an ideal solution to the problems of the site and architectural character. From above on Munras Avenue or from the freeway they will provide a quiet and harmonious composition among the trees. In addition, they allow the concealment of roof ventilators and mechanical equipment.
Structure and Materials—
The selection of materials and details for the center as a whole was done to bring them close in harmony with the traditional masonry and wood style of Monterey, which has existed since the late eighteenth century. The structure is pre-cast concrete columns and pre-stressed, pre-cast concrete beams supporting the outer perimeter of the roof, with a system of wood trusses spanning the larger interior spaces and cantilevering out to shelter the mall. The roofing is grey stained transite panels laid with a strongly expressed horizontal joint line with skylights over areas to be clear-spanned. All exposed concrete structures will be sand blasted to expose the aggregate. Malls are paved with various combinations of brick and exposed aggregate concrete.
