Residential Design Guide
The City of Redwood City encourages homeowners, designers, architects, developers, and residents to review and consult the Residential Design Guide in the design development of your residential project.
About the Design Guide
For ease of use, the Design Guide has been separated into individual chapters below. The full document can also be reviewed here (Link).
This chapter describes the purpose of the design guide, their relation to certain General Plan Goals and Policies, why the design of homes is important to Redwood City, and how to use the guide to help in the design residential projects in residential neighborhoods.
This chapter contains best practice related to the mass and bulk of the structure including height and scale and two-story forms. The mass and bulk of a home has a significant effect on how a structure and design is perceived when viewed from the street.
This chapter contains best practice for the home’s design which includes façade design, front entries, transitional spaces, roof design, and garage design.
This chapter contains best practice for building details which are used to complement the building’s mass and design. Elements include: exterior materials, window design and placement, and architectural details.
Chapter 5 - Guide to Landscape Design
Guide to Landscape Design: This chapter provides best practices and suggestions for landscape design which is a very visible and important component of how a home is perceived from the street.
Chapter 6 - Architectural Styles
The last chapter briefly describes some of the architectural styles found in Redwood City. A particular style is not required in Redwood City, however a homeowner or an architect may want to design their home in a specific way and this chapter provides a summary of the typical elements for each style found in Redwood City.
How-To-Use
The Residential Design Guide is intended to be a resource for all residential home design projects. While the guidelines have been developed with single-family homes in mind, some design principles can also apply to a duplex, triplex, or similar scale residential structures. This guide establishes a robust set of design guidance and best practices for a designer, homeowner, developer, and resident to use in the design development of a project. Accompanying diagrams do not necessarily illustrate overall desirable home design; rather, they are provided to help interpret and illustrate specific concepts and guidelines.
The Residential Design Guide is intended to serve as a reference to residents, homeowners, designers,
developers. The guide is intended to assist homeowners and designers recognize the impacts, both good
and bad, that some design elements have on the neighborhood. In addition to promoting architectural
compatibility in building and site design, the guide is intended to communicate the City’s idea of best
practices to the Redwood City community; accommodate the changing needs of Redwood City residents;
and to promote excellence in design for all Redwood City’s neighborhoods.
Design professionals are encouraged to review this document and contact Planning staff (Link) during the
initial stages of design.
Contact
If you have a suggestion, or question, or if you just want to stay informed about single family residential policies, please contact: William Chui at wchui@redwoodcity.org or (650) 780-5916.
Background and Development of the Design Guide
In response to concerns regarding architectural compatibility of new homes and 2nd story additions, the City is preparing a set of design guidelines to ensure that residential single-family additions, remodels, and new homes fit within their context. The Design Guide will let homeowners and designers know what is expected when it comes to overall design, massing, scale, and proportions of single-family homes.
The City also implemented the following to provide more tools for single-family residential design review:
Immediate (completed): Guiding Principles on the Neighborhood Findings. Status: Council adopted the Guiding Principles on December 3, 2018
Short-Term (completed): Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Amendments creating additional height and size limitation for second story ADUs with privacy provisions for exterior balconies and windows. Status: Council adopted ADU amendments on August 26, 2019 which went into effect September 25, 2019. See handout here.
Short-Term (completed): Floor Area Ratio (FAR) Ordinance requiring Planning Commission review and action if a home size exceeds an established size threshold. Status: Council adopted an FAR Urgency Ordinance effective as of August 26, 2019. See handout here.
Long-Term (completed): Residential Design Guide. Final document can be accessed at this link
What is the Residential Design Guide?
Design guidelines are a set of parameters for overall design, massing, scale, and proportions of single-family homes. They are intended to promote appropriate, high quality site and building design, convey design expectations, and ensure consistent application of those expectations. Specific design elements that may be addressed include building bulk and massing, setbacks, upper story step-backs, façade articulation, roof design, window placement, garage placement, paving, and landscaping. These guidelines would apply to new two-story homes and second-story additions and remodels.
Neighborhood and Community Outreach
Past outreach efforts included:
Neighborhood Walk-Shops
The City created a "walk-shop" for each neighborhood. Residents are encouraged to download a walk-shop, walk around your neighborhood and record designs, streetscapes, architecture, etc. that you think looks good.
Once complete, the walk-shop can be emailed to staff, dropped off with your Neighborhood Association Chair, or mailed to City Hall. The walk-shops already have the return address printed on them, so simply fold it in half, add a stamp, and place it in the mail!
Interactive Digital Walk-Shop
If you don't have time to walk the neighborhood or prefer a more tech-savvy approach, try our Interactive Digital Walk-Shops! Just click the image below to launch the interactive map and drop pins indicating which homes best exemplify good design.
Pinterest Board
Another way to provide input is by adding your ideas to the City of Redwood City Residential Design Guidelines Pinterest board here. Users must be signed into an account or create a new account. Once logged into Pinterest, post pins of favorite designs seen around Redwood City, or re-pin other ideas to the board.Past Meetings and Events
- July 20, 2021 - Planning Commission informational session on the Residential Design Guide
- February 16, 2021 - Planning Commission and Architectural Advisory Committee study session reviewing new draft of the Residential Design Guidelines
- November 17, 2020 - Planning Commission and Architectural Advisory Committee study session on the first draft of the Residential Design Guidelines
- February 4, 2020 - Planning Commission hearing (summary of outreach and next steps)
- September 25, 2019 - Community Workshop
- September 7, 2019 - Farmers Market - Information booth to learn more about the study and provide input
- August 28, 2019 - Open House and Joint Study Session with the Planning Commission and Architectural Advisory Committee [notice, presentation]
- August 13-14 - Information Gathering Sessions
Residential Design Guideline Materials
- Residential Design Guidelines Flyer (En español)
- Information Gathering Session Meeting Notes
- Residential Design Study - Neighborhood Documentation and Observations
Helpful Documents
- Planning Commission Recommendations to ADU Changes, Home Size Limits and Residential Design Guidelines Next Steps blog, go here.
- For the Neighborhood Design Review blog, go here.
- For a blog post about the July 2018 Council Study Session, go here.
- July 23 City Council Staff Report
- July 23 City Council Presentation
- Tips for Success: Single-Family Home Architectural Permit
Helpful Links to other pages related to Single-Family Residential
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