Shelter’s Stylish Towers Also Serve Practical Purpose

The twin bell towers that grace St. Vincent De Paul’s soon-to-open shelter for the homeless appear to be a logical extension of the classic Spanish-style mission architecture that dominates so many of Southern California’s buildings.

There will indeed be a bell in one of the towers--along with an electronic carillon. The distinctive towers were designed to act as a beacon for San Diego’s homeless.

But the towers that rise above the homes and warehouses near the intersection of 16th St. and Imperial Ave. are not simply an aesthetic appendage. Rather, the peach-stuccoed towers play an integral role in the energy efficient-design of the building that won a California Energy Commission award in 1986.

The towers double as the air intake and exhaust chambers for a novel ventilation system that will use San Diego’s ocean breezes to cool the second and third floors of the emergency housing shelter, according to architect Fred A. De Santo.

“We did a wind (study) and found that 70% of the time the wind is blowing right into that tower,” said De Santo. When Mother Nature isn’t providing the breeze, a small motor-driven fan will pull air down through the tower and force it into the building’s corridors.

The other tower acts as an exhaust chamber that, like the intake, will be powered by Mother Nature.

Energy-Efficient Devices

The building is filled with equally subtle energy-efficient devices.

Suites feature windows that open to take advantage of cool ocean breezes. Hallways are lit by skylights, and an interior courtyard is designed to stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

The center’s designers incorporated a low-cost “thermal energy storage system” that will provide air conditioning for the center’s first-floor offices, a chapel, a school room and a medical clinic. The system takes advantage of San Diego Gas & Electric’s lower night-time electric rates to chill water that will be stored and subsequently used to provide air conditioning during the day when rates and temperatures are higher.

The various energy-efficient design features are linked by a state-of-the art, computerized energy management system designed to keep electric and gas bills low.