Rick Landscape Architecture
San Diego

Rick Engineering Co. (founded in 1955) is an award-winning, multidisciplinary planning, design and engineering firm with over 200 employees and offices in California (San Diego, Riverside, Orange, Sacramento, San Luis Obispo, Bakersfield) and Arizona (Phoenix and Tucson). Jim Kuhlken is principal in charge of the Rick Landscape Architecture division. Scope of work includes master planning, redevelopment, streetscapes and neighborhood projects, plus river and urban park projects.

Pacific Beacon Bachelor Enlisted Quarters, San Diego
The Navy and a private developer worked together in a public/private venture to build this first-of-its-kind housing development for single, enlisted sailors in San Diego. Three 18-story buildings provide housing to nearly 1,000 sailors in dual-master suite residences. A lack of affordable area housing had the Navy requiring that all junior enlisted sailors live on the ship while in homeport. The new housing gives a sailor more than 200 times the room compared to the cramped onboard accommodations. A rooftop sky terrace offers a pool and spa. Amenities include an athletic field, running path, basketball courts, sand volleyball courts, horseshoe pits, BBQ areas, and outdoor courtyard living rooms. Rick Landscape Architecture provided conceptual design, schematic design, design development, preparation of construction documents and construction administration. Preliminary site planning for the site was a collaborative effort of the landscape architectural firm, project architects and civil engineers. Rick Landscape Architecture provided design and preparation construction for site improvements outside of the buildings and coordination with the design team members, which included architecture, civil engineering, water resource engineering and electrical engineering.

Cielo Club, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
Rick Landscape Architecture worked as the prime consultant and was responsible for site planning and all improvements outside of the building architecture. The firm did the conceptual, schematic and development designs, plus prepared construction documents and construction administration. As the lead designer/project manager for site improvements, the landscape architecture team was responsible for coordination and collaboration for a design team of civil, electrical and structural engineers, pool architects and water feature designers. The project site is wrapped at the base of a hillside, which created four separate pads with 10-ft. elevation changes between pads, making ADA accessibility a challenge. The upper pad has tennis courts, with the parking lot and clubhouse below. The five separate buildings allowed space for four gardens and courtyard areas with fountains, statues and site furnishings. The Tuscany themed design has formal plantings that transition into the hillsides. A mixture of formal hedges and informal planting with Italian cypress and palms creates the feel of an Italian villa. With terraced retaining walls, the pool area lies just below the clubhouse, providing a grand setting. A spa is adjacent to the exercise room and nestled next to a large water feature. A five-foot vertical waterfall is part of the perimeter barrier to omit use of fencing. The five-foot perimeter pool safety fence was designed to be below eyesight for better views. The lowest pad has a tot-lot and sloping open lawn and stage area.