• Award

    2012 National APA Award for Implementation

Urban Architecture Award Winners Master Plans/Specific Plans Form-Based Coding Strategic Advising/Implementation

Pleasant Hill Transit Village

Contra Costa County, California

Transformation from a parking lot to an urban village

From 2003 to 2010, Opticos Design was engaged by the Contra Costa County Redevelopment Agency to assist with the ongoing design and redevelopment of the Pleasant Hill BART Station Transit Village. Our work began with participation in the design process as an urban design consultant to Lennertz, Coyle & Associates, in which we contributed to the BART Station Master Plan and Form-Based Code. The plan incorporated a 12-story Class A office building, townhouses, and mixed-use space around a central public plaza.

We followed this work by assisting the county as “vision keeper,” engaging in a variety of activities including interpretation and administration of the Form-Based Code, design review, urban design, and facilitation and coordination among participating agencies. This included the coordination of public signage and public art with BART, Contra Costa County, and the mixed-use project developer.

“Opticos played a key role in guiding the Avalon Walnut Creek design team to solutions that bridged the gap between the intent of the community planning charrette, the formal architectural standards and the realities of construction. The end result is a project that the community and project owners can be very proud.”

— Jeff White, Sr Development Director, AvalonBay Communities