Project Data:

Firm Name:              LPA, Inc.

Completion Date:     9/30/2017

Square Footage:      48000

Building Use:           Commercial Office

Location:                 Santa Clara, CA

Project Description:

A three-story, 35-year-old office building in Santa Clara, California, was languishing in the ultra-competitive Silicon Valley market. The ownership and leasing teams viewed the building as being outdated and uninviting. The challenge was to recreate the vacant 48,000-square-foot building, 3250 Olcott, to appeal to modern companies, emphasizing warmth and spaces for creativity and connectivity.

The design solution for the project infused the building with natural light, created collaboration spaces and embraced a connection to the outdoors. The most striking feature is a new two-story glass lobby. The lobby creates a dramatic identifiable entrance, changing the tone of the entire building. The lobby was added in a manner that its roof creates an outdoor deck accessible from bi-folding glass doors that were added to the third floor.

From the initial site visit a grove of existing redwood trees were identified as a true “gift of the site”. Due to their fragile health status, because of recent drought conditions, the design team worked closely with arborists and the general contractor to protect the trees in place. Their success provides passive shading for the building, an amazing backdrop for interior spaces and a beautiful canopy for exterior spaces.

To further reinforce the connection to nature, an outdoor “retreat” was built amongst the grove of redwoods, giving tenants a natural space to escape the office. A fire pit, a variety of seating areas and writable surfaces are located throughout the area, allowing for the space to be programmed for numerous events including outdoor conferencing, exterior dining and social gathering.

The interior design created a cohesion between the external and internal features. Formal and informal gathering zones are spread throughout the building, designed to spark collaboration. Furniture pods line the circulation paths next to the windows, creating private, mobile alternative work spaces and re-enforcing the link to nature. The new design also includes shared, glass-enclosed conference rooms and an elaborate kitchen and dining area—all catering to the needs and interests of the modern workforce. All spaces are organized to take full advantage of the continuous window line and views to the redwoods and the exterior.

Sustainability was a key driver of the renovation. The building envelope was retrofitted with new high-performance glazing that not only improved thermal performance but increased daylight transmittance. High reflectance single ply roofing and LED lighting were also added to bolster the building’s efficiency. High efficiency plumbing and irrigation systems were included to decrease the project’s demand for potable water. Overall 98% of perimeter walls, building structure and structural floor and roof decks were reused greatly reducing the embodied carbon of the project when compared to new construction. The design team also worked with building owners and the leasing team to develop sustainable building standards and green cleaning policies to support sustainable operations. The resulting design solution achieved LEED Gold Certification for Core and Shell from the U.S. Green Building Council.

C.O.T.E. | Committee on the Environment

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