Elegantly pragmatic, a new complex is a teaching ground for students learning the latest in heavy-duty equipment servicing.

When architect-developer Jonathan Segal named one of his recent buildings “The Q,” he says he was looking for “the cool factor, the debonair suaveness” of James Bond.

Designed for the executive chef of a trendy La Jolla eatery, this light-filled professional-style kitchen combines the functional ease of a commercial kitchen with the warm, communal aesthetic of a residential one.

Every evening at around 7:30pm in San Diego’s Mission Beach neighborhood, throngs of people flock to the boardwalk, and hundreds of pairs of eyes stare westward to watch the sun sink into the Pacific Ocean.

The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, based in a converted, much-expanded landmark, the Ellen Scripps house, designed by Irving Gill in 1915 in idyllic La Jolla, may be as well known for its stunning, oceanside setting as for its bold, nationally acclaimed exhibitions.