The Village Creates Youthful Neighborhood in Irvine

Irvine welcomes contemporary, urban living options with the completion of The Village at Irvine Spectrum Center. This 31.5-acre site offers residential options conceived for nearly 3,000 young professionals who frequent the shops, restaurants and entertainment venues at the neighboring Irvine Spectrum Center.

"Creating vibrant communities is our intent as planners and architects," says Rick Emsiek, AIA, president of MVE & Partners, Inc., who has overseen the phased completion of the project since 2005. "Seeing this massive project come to completion is gratifying for our long-time client, The Irvine Company, as well as for us as designers."

Irvine-based MVE & Partners is one of the 10 largest architecture firms in California, and excels at the planning and architecture of multi-tenant and mixed-use projects. In fact, MVE & Partners has also created The Park, a sister project to The Village and additional extension of lifestyle choices in a growing mixed-use community - also developed by The Irvine Company - which has recently broken ground.

The Village comprises four distinct four-story mixed-use districts gathered around a central main street environment. To ensure the desired level of architectural diversity for a village-like setting, MVE & Partners arranged separate project teams within its office to autonomously develop distinct characteristics for each neighborhood. Each team's work was based on the urban design guidelines and principles established by MVE & Partners.

A central main street is activated with retail uses and other community amenities, such as fitness facilities, clubhouses, business centers, post offices and leasing offices. Adding to the pedestrian nature of the main street are diagonal parking, textured paving, street trees and furniture and townhomes that access the street with stoops and front doors. Each neighborhood has its own pool and recreation facilities. In addition, a community recreation area and park are enjoyed by all residents of The Village.

MVE & Partners is a national architecture, planning and interiors firm with a portfolio spanning more than 30 years. MVE's design and delivery services include the creation of residential, commercial, mixed-use, hospitality, retail, transit, interior and planning solutions from offices in Irvine and Oakland, CA, and in Honolulu, HI. Educational and civic projects are completed by MVE Institutional, an affiliated company. MVE & Partners bridges forward-thinking design initiatives, such as sustainability, smart-growth and urbanization to the timely completion of projects. While design diversity is the cornerstone of the firm, the defining approach is the creation of meaningful, attractive environments that enhance community and quality of life.