AIA ArchitecTours

Anacapa Studios is a three-building mixed-use complex on lower Anacapa St. in Downtown Santa Barbara. Envisioned as a “creative compound” for living and working, the campus represents a serious financial and lifestyle commitment to the downtown area; succeeding in a once in a lifetime opportunity to contribute to the downtown Santa Barbara lifestyle. Robin Donaldson AIA, Partner of ShubinDonaldson (SD) Architects developed the live-work campus for his 20 person Santa Barbara design office. Living on campus in the back building allows Robin to integrate his personal life with his life-long passion of practicing Architecture.

Anacapa Studios stitches into the historically commercial/manufacturing neighborhood by minimizing the mass of the project, breaking the 12,000 SF development into three separate 4,000 SF buildings. The buildings include a living unit in the upper floors and are three stories tall with fourth story roof decks. Private “courtyard” spaces are created between the three buildings for parking and landscaped ground level open areas, allowing for a walkability index of 98.

This project is a unique downtown project with an intention to be a creative space that supports architectural R&D projects, onsite-fabrication, and the ability to open up the space for public events. Anacapa Studios’ front build has a gallery space with a public storefront facing Anacapa Street for display of creative projects and was recently used as a location for Santa Barbara’s first Thursday art walks. The ultimate goal of Anacapa Studios is to be a demonstration project and catalyst for future Santa Barbara downtown living.