At the heart of this nearly 6-acre development is a public paseo that links this development to emerging retail environments on one side and existing neighborhoods and new parks on the other. The paseo is publicly accessible and features seating, lighting, multiple public fountains, and small amenity spaces along its edges.
Silicon Valley’s development patterns defy easy classification. The area’s farmlands rapidly developed during the mid-century into a mix of suburban homes, freeways, and industrial buildings. Today, as the area’s densities increase, the result is decidedly more urban, yet the expansive roadways of past decades still dominate as immovable infrastructure.
The Dean is a new development situated within this context and results in part from the recently released San Antonio Precise Plan—a plan that identifies development along San Antonio Road as a revitalized neighborhood that is highly accessible to public transit options, bikeways, new parks and supports a diverse mix of commercial and residential uses. The Dean facilitates an active pedestrian environment by linking older and newer neighborhoods.
With many tenants sharing the exterior amenities, the development team took particular care to bring a sense of luxury and extravagance to those spaces. A glass-sided pool provides swimmers with a view into adjacent spaces. Buildings feature ground-level porticos that allow the amenity spaces to link, creating long sight lines through the project and a sense of expansiveness often lost in typical courtyard-type developments. “The Springs” features a series of spa pools set in a richly tropical environment – one small gesture where water is fully celebrated. Bathers can dry off at the fire or cook dinner in the nearby portico – a curtained environment for relaxing by the fire.
Other amenities include a game court, the “Backyard”—a quiet courtyard for cooking and Petanque—an off-leash dog area, and roof gardens with seamless interior and exterior connections. All the spaces have rich paving materials, clean white stucco walls, and a rich palette of plantings.
With densities approaching 100 units per acre, new housing concepts like The Dean must continue adapting to changing outdoor living expectations. The single-family residence—long serving as the ideal for a lifestyle that promotes a connection to the outdoors—must give way to new models that allow families and individuals to feel like they have space of their own, even within the development that continues to become denser.
