The Fab Five of Tralee Village,
Dublin, Calif.

Landscape Architecture by Robert Mowat Associates

Tralee Village is a mixed-use community of shopping, apartments and townhouses on 10 acres in central Dublin, a suburban city of the East San Francisco Bay area of Alameda County.

Dublin has been developing as a bedroom community for over 40 years. The Tralee development, 233 residential units of row townhouses and apartments located above 55,000 sq. ft. of retail and commercial space, has helped define a new downtown element and central shopping core to what was a nondescript commercial corridor adjacent to the city civic center. The retail component sits directly on a structural podium slab that covers a large subterranean garage.

Unique to this development is the placement of five fountains, with design detailing by Robert Mowat Associates to give each on its own identity. The fountains have brought a new energy and civic life to a part of Dublin that languished for years as a former big box retail site. Two smaller fountains set within the village landscape provide comfort and respite. The Tralee’s fountains are placed at key locations to help way finding and create community identity.

Main Entry Fountain
The main entry fountain is a large concentric circular design with successive levels of brick steps supporting an 8-foot diameter precast concrete bowl. The brick steps help visually accentuate the water by aerating it as it moves downward to the basin. Colorful purple mosaic glass tiles surround the basin providing a remarkable amount of color that gives the vehicular entry an iconic, bold look.

Segmented Fountain
Along busy Dougherty Road, an oval, blue mosaic glass tiled fountain with segmented boulders announces Tralee Village. The original fountain design envisioned a large boulder sliced into pieces and lit from within. The developer, however, had concerns about installation timing and cost of transporting a large 8-foot long boulder, choose to substitute a concrete replica. The replacement of real stone with handcrafted concrete does not seem to have lessened the effect of the concept, nor the overall aesthetics of the monument.

A segmented, handcrafted concrete “boulder” fountain within an oval, blue mosaic glass tiled oval basin announces Tralee Village along busy Dougherty Road. The original design called for a genuine 8-ft. boulder, but cost and construction issues prevented the stone’s installation.

Sandstone Fountain
At the entry to the Recreation Center is a concept fountain of uplit boulders, stacked sandstone and custom glass tiles that engages visitors as they drive through and arrive at the core of the village. The elevated sandstone raises the water level, which enhances additional water movement at a greater visible distance possible than with just a small basin and low jets.

Enclosed Courtyard Fountain
A fourth fountain is within a courtyard on a 10-inch thick structural concrete slab with a basin exterior of gray glass mosaic tiles. Its soft curve composes a series of custom designed planters, fountain basins and benching. Quickcrete of Norco, Calif. crafted the bowls and planters from the designs of the landscape architects. “No matter what unusual or difficult concept we bring to them, they always seem to make our visions become reality in ways more enticing than we initially envisioned,” said Robert Mowat.

White Bowl Fountain
The fifth fountain is a small circular bowl and basin of lime colored glass mosaic tiles that announces the intersection of a row house landscape corridor. This small fountain is like a locational beacon along the landscaped pathways of the architecturally similar townhouses. The fountain has helped provide an identity to the corridor that now differs from several others in the townhouse section.

This small circular bowl and basin of lime colored glass mosaic tiles announces the intersection of a landscaped corridor of three story townhouses. The white bowl is kind of a beacon that lets people on the landscaped pathways of the architecturally similar townhouses know where they are.

The five fabulous fountains of Tralee Village add identity and aesthetics to the development. Each one is a unique jewel of individualized, colorful custom tile mosaics.

Project Team
Landscape Architect:
Robert Mowat Associates, San Francisco and the Napa Valley
Principal in Charge:
Robert Mowat
Project Manager:
John Dalrymple
Landscape Designers:
Taeko Kawasaki & Melissa Lee

Vendors
Concrete, Precast (Fountains): Quick Crete Co.
110-Volt Lighting: 250-Watt Brass Submersible Lights,
Cal Pump, Valencia, Ca.
12-Volt Uplighting: 20-Watts, Little Giant Lighting
Pumps and Filters: NFS Pump Co.
Pump Electronics: Intermatic Co.
Tile: Galleria Tile & Daltile