RecD96 1996-138988 - Laserfiche WebLink

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III. The Development Master Plan6 General The central theme of the Development Master Plan is to create an informal campus office envi- ronment through the placement and massing of buildings and landscaping. Six buildings. includ- ing a proposed low rise special purpose accesso- ry structure. are clustered to form a central quad. with a seventh building at a gateway location at the southern entrance. Building height and mass- ing also promote a campus feeling by maintaining heights between four and ten stories. The overàll concept is to create building massing on the site which responds architecturally to the existing gradual increase or Mterracing" in building heights .from the Bayshore Freeway to the site. The buildings along Bayshore average two stories; the next tier of buildings. the Redwood Shores Business Park buildings along Twin Dolphin Drive. average seven stories in height. The Electronic Arts property situated behind the Twin Dolphin Drive properties will complete the terracing effect by developing buildings of varying heights with a maximum height of ten stories. Another key theme of the Development Master Plan is to minimize impacts on adjacent proper- ties. in particular. adjacent residential uses. Building heights are consistent with the San Mateo County Airport Land Use Plan. and will be located in a manner which will avoid dominating the campus or blocking views to the campus from the surrounding area. When compared to the pre- viously approved plan for the site. significant improvements in the development strategy have been made: At the residential edge. the campus will have a buffer landscape area, instead of the previous proposal of surface parking and low rise office buildings. The overall massing of the Electronic Arts buildings will create a composition which responds to views from the campus edges. and will maximize sunlight exposure on the inter- nal open spaces. In addition, the plan will mini- mize shadow impacts on the homes.7 The buildings have been configured to permit flexi- bility in their final disposition of height and devel- opment program. depending on the requirements for each development Zone. It is the intention of the Master Plan to ensure that flexibility is avail- able between the development Zones to accom- modate changes in the needs of future building occupants over time. This approach will allow some buildings in the plan to increase in size while others decrease in size, according to guide- lines established by the City for each development zone. consistent with the Redwood City General Plan, the County Airport Land Use Plan, and State and Federal aviation guidelines concerning taller structures near operating airports. The total development program for the campus will be main- tained at a maximum of 1,000.000 square feet. GBFA for office space and 50,000 square feet of GBFA for the special purpose accessory structure. Landscaping promotes a campus feeling by creat- ing a series of informal open spaces of different character and size, which are linked by tree-lined pathways. The central quad is a large campus green surrounded by six buildings. This area will be available to tenants of each of these buildings 6 Building heights and locations shown on the various exhibits In the Development Master Plan, as well as the size of noorplates, have not been precisely determined. The applicant expects the approval of the Planned Development Permit to be conditioned upon City approval of precise development plans for each phase of the Development prior to commencement of construction of that phase. 7 See Scale Model photographs, Section IV. and Shadow Analysis. Section V. r-V-'--ll_~........... 5