Above and Beyond takes a holistic approach to today’s housing challenges, prioritizing long-term livability, performance, resilience, and adaptability through both innovative design and forward-thinking ownership models.

At the heart of the design is a defining strategy: elevating the main living units on robust central cores. This lifted structure creates generous, shaded outdoor common areas below while minimizing site disturbance. The cores consolidate essential building systems and house key resilience features, including water tanks for fire suppression—streamlining infrastructure while boosting safety.

Landscape plays a central role in the project’s vision. Designed to foster community interaction and ecological resilience, it incorporates California native species to enhance biodiversity and buffer against extreme weather. Each lot includes a water tank for both irrigation during drought and fire protection. Greywater is recycled for gardens, and rain gardens filter runoff while acting as natural firebreaks—using strategic grading, stonework, and fire-resistant planting. Trees are thoughtfully placed to reduce indoor temperatures and frame comfortable, shaded gathering spaces.

The site is divided into three lots, yielding seven homes: two generous two-bedroom units, two compact one-bedrooms, and two studios tucked beneath the elevated volumes. This mix—along with flexible interior layouts that allow for either open plans or partitions—supports a wide range of living arrangements, including multigenerational households. The studios can be built in phases, offering additional adaptability over time.

To match this spatial flexibility with long-term stability, the project proposes innovative ownership models—such as individually owned lots with shared communal spaces—potentially supported by city land donations or lease-to-own programs. In this way, Above and Beyond becomes more than a housing design: it offers a replicable framework for resilient, adaptable, and community-centered living—designed for the challenges of today and the uncertainties of tomorrow.