Union Flats

The Union Flats activates a beautifully landscaped promenade that runs to the north of Station Center Family Housing, award-winning affordable housing by DBA that was the pioneer building in the developing area. Part of the Union City Master Plan, the transit-oriented community faces the new Union Center Plaza and current Union City BART station and is poised to connect to the upcoming Intermodal Station.

The community includes 40 live-work lofts—a new housing type for Union City. Dynamic flex lofts line 11th Street and open directly out to the neighborhood, while a more private row onto a sheltered courtyard. Ground-level apartments on the north and south sides of the building connect directly to the sidewalk via private residential stoops.

Inside, homes encircle a large central courtyard filled with amenities for renters: a large swimming pool and freestanding, green-roofed pavilions with spaces for leasing, co-working, fitness, events, and a dog spa.

The pool is shielded from view by the pavilions, yet there is a broad visual connection through portals from the street into the courtyard, revealing flashes of green and a glimpse of the inner life of the building.

The Union Flats features a range of prefabricated construction: modular set on a foundation; modular atop a Type I podium; and modular wrapping the Type I concrete garage. Guerdon Enterprises fabricated 388 “mods” in Boise, Idaho, while foundations were being poured in California. After traveling from the factory to Union City, the mods were set using a giant crane at a rate of about 12 a day. 

One of the largest completed modular housing developments in Northern California at its time, the development features a range of construction: modular housing set on a foundation; modular atop a Type I podium; and modular housing wrapping the Type I concrete garage. At the rear of the site, the embedded garage buffers the development from the sound of the adjacent rail tracks.

The massing is self-shading, in response to its solar orientation. That is, at the southwest façade, balconies are recessed. At the northwest and southeast, bays are articulated to provide shade from the sun while taking advantage of light and views of the nearby hills.