LAUREL THEATER, San Carlos

Replacing the once-grand Laurel Theaters, the Laurel Theater Apartments is a 42-unit apartment-over-retail mixed-use project that fronts the main shopping street in San Carlos. The 42 dwelling units are designed around a central garden space and placed above ground-level retail and parking. The height ranges from two to three stories in response to the surrounding context. Wood frame construction with stucco exteriors over a poured-in-place concrete podium was the primary construction method. Varied roof forms, materials, and color serve to break up the scale of the building, and a trellis bridges a public alley to tie the two separate parcels together visually.