San Jose Historic Design Guidelines

Design guidelines help assure that, when new building occurs, it will be in a manner that reinforces the basic visual characteristics of the area. This does not mean, however, that new buildings must look old. In fact, imitating historic styles found in San Jose is generally discouraged; historians prefer to be able to “read” the evolution of the street, discerning the apparent age of each building by its style and method of construction. They do so by interpreting the age of a building, placing its style in relative chronological order. When a new building is designed to imitate a historic style, this ability to interpret the history of the street is confused.

Rather than imitating older buildings, a new design should relate to the traditional design characteristics of a neighborhood while also conveying the stylistic trends of today. New construction may do so by drawing upon some basic building features—such as the way in which a building is located on its site, the manner in which it relates to the street and its basic mass, form and materials—rather than applying detailing which may or may not have been historically appropriate. When these design variables are arranged in a new building to be similar to those seen traditionally in the area, visual compatibility results. Therefore, it is possible to be compatible with the historic context while also producing a design that is distinguishable as being newer.

Some people may be confused about this concept; for many, the initial assumption is that any new building should appear to be old. On the contrary, the design guidelines for site design and infill presented later in this document encourage new buildings that can be distinguished as being of their own time. At the same time, they do promote new building designs that would relate to the more fundamental similarities of traditional buildings.