Terraine
Location
San Jose, CA, USA
Status
In design
Client
Westbank
Type
Residential
Structural Type
Mass Timber Hybrid
Size
325,000 sf
Sustainability
Targeting LEED Platinum
Tags
Informed by the unique climate and geology of Northern California's Santa Clara Valley, Terraine is a residential tower designed to maximize the experience of indoor/outdoor living in downtown San Jose with a minimal carbon footprint. The rental building will work with Studio Gang's adjacent Arbor commercial tower to serve as a dynamic anchor for the surrounding neighborhood and create new connectivity with central downtown and vital greenways such as the Guadalupe River Trail.
Residents will have access to private balconies as well as a variety of outdoor amenity spaces that are distributed vertically throughout the tower, providing a framework for a vibrant, shared social life.
Terraine’s architecture sets up the ideal conditions for a flourishing, pedestrian-friendly and transit-oriented community. Working within the grid of the Mass Timber structure, the form of the tower responds to the solar orientation and temperate climate, with an articulated façade of balconies, terraces, and corner windows that maximize views, natural daylight, and indoor-outdoor connectivity. The generous amenity spaces are also designed to benefit from the local climate and views, creating desirable places for residents to mix and form a sense of community.
Though the geometry of the façade and plan have an organic appearance, they are tightly coordinated within optimized spatial and structural parameters to maximize functionality and performance. The tower's “vertical terrain” is simultaneously functional, environmentally performative, and visually striking – self-shading the unit interiors to reduce energy use and creating inviting balconies tuned to maximize sunlight and views.
To address operational carbon, the design incorporates passive environmental strategies in combination with advanced green systems and on-site energy generation. The environmental strategy takes a holistic approach, integrating both Arbor and the Davidson Building (the other two projects by Studio Gang in this development) into one, highly sustainable system. In addition, the building’s structural and operational systems minimize both embodied and operational carbon, making a clear statement in favor of climate positive design.
The project’s footprint strengthens the urban experience by creating expanded gathering spaces at the intersection of Bassett and Terraine Streets and providing an oasis parklet that connects the ground plane to the tower podium.
Related
Designboom — "with 'Arbor,' Studio Gang will celebrate timber architecture at westbank campus in san jose"
"Studio Gang’s 14-story mass timber ‘Arbor’ emulates the spirit of working in a tree fort with a minimal carbon footprint...The tactile wood structure becomes a terraced framework for vertical ravines and green space, allowing the optimal amount of light, air and shade into and out of the building. meanwhile, green roofs, green walls, and vegetated trellises serve to filter the air, reduce the urban heat island effect, and reduce energy use for active cooling."
Fast Company — "Sprawl Ruined Silicon Valley. Can World Class Architecture Fix It?"
"In the heart of Silicon Valley, where the landscape is dominated by self-contained tech campuses and low-density car-oriented urbanism, a major new development is bringing in a team of world-class architects to add a collection of mixed-use projects to downtown San Jose."
Read more about our mass timber, zero carbon project in San Jose!