Point of Departure

30th Street
San Diego, CA 92104

For our own live/work studio, we chose to walk the walk: To build a sleek, modern, thoroughly elegant space using sustainable, environmentally-sound materials .

The soulful but crumbling 1939 original structure was stripped to the studs and updated with modern wiring, plumbing and insulation. A sleek modern layout and design uses the northern part of the property as an open-air, indoor-outdoor courtyard, living space and kitchen. Huge glass garage doors have become walls that provide ceiling-to-floor natural light - and open to function as a natural cooling system.

Three bedrooms, three bathrooms, as well as a gallery, studio and workshop space all neatly fit within 1700 square feet. The studio functions day-to-night as PoD’s primary workspace and Dan's and Jason's personal residence.

Building materials were dismantled, recycled, reused and selected with great thought; demolished studs and former scrap bring an urban patina to the property’s fence. Purchased wood is certified sustainable; high-end appliances are refurbished; concrete floors are left with their history intact and highly polished. The result? An award-winning, incredibly warm, people-friendly modern space that treads lightly on the planet.


Point of Departure: Elegant Environmentalism
Project Credits: Architecture Point of Departure
Contractor Point of Departure