“We just keep getting up higher in densities all the time,” said Bob Wilhelm, Senior Principal-Senior Designer with William Hezmalhalch Architects.

That was also the message from Don Jacobs, president of JZMK Partners, another architectural design firm during the March edition of the Randall Lewis Seminar series.

While most of the designs highlighted during the evening were from Orange County developments, projects destined for cities such as Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga made it clear that Inland Southern California wouldn’t be far behind.

Architects are moving towards differentiating housing fronts, building attached products such as condominiums, duplexes and triplexes and gridded street patterns. Architects are moving away from cul-de-sacs and house fronts dominated by garages. Architects are bringing back alleys and arbors, while experimenting with courtyards and common spaces.

For Don Jacobs’ presentation, click here.

For Bob Wilhelm’s presentation, click here.

These changes are being pushed by a combination of economics, customer demand and city planners increasingly concerned about how their communities look, the architects said.

As land costs rise, and cities, counties and special districts raise the fees developers must factor into the price of a house, developers are seeking to insure profits by raising the number of units per acre. While the traditional 7,200-square-foot lot would allow four or five houses to the acre, the current generation of two-story, small lot is pushing densities up to 6 or 7 units.

The next generation of designs, featuring common walls, shared parking courtyards, and three-story designs will push densities even higher.

Jacobs and Wilhelm say customers are showing little resistance to these designs, especially in expensive areas such as Orange County. Jacobs showed a tight development his company designed in Newport Beach where homes with some of these features sold at prices over $1.5 million.

Developers must also be responsive to cities greater desire to control the appearance of their communities. “Cities aren’t passing anything that hasn’t been closely scrutinized,” said Wilhelm. Both he and Jacobs said they felt the cities’ demands have led to higher standards.