Development of Santa Clara U. Student Housing Under Way

Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Irvine, Calif.–Ground has been broken for new student housing property at Santa Clara University (SCU) in the Silicon Valley. Upon completion in fall 2011, the residential community, developed by Sobrato Organization and designed by KTGY, will provide 400 beds for the university’s junior and senior students.

The student apartment homes will range in size from one bedroom, one bath at 604 square feet to four bedrooms, two bathrooms at 1,382 square feet. The community will also feature a 4,500-square-foot student services center, which includes a multipurpose event room with kitchen. Outdoor amenities include social and recreation areas plus bike storage.

According to David Obitz, KTGY principal and lead designer for the project, the new student housing and student services center will blend with SCU’s mix of Early California, Italianate, and contemporary themes.

The property will be green, per university specifications. SCU is committed to climate neutrality by 2015, meaning the it intends to have net zero carbon emissions by that year. Besides this particular development, the University has also implemented a number of other energy-efficiency measures to help reach that goal.

The urban infill site, which is on more than five acres of land in both the cities of Santa Clara and San Jose, is directly adjacent to SCU’s Stephen Schott Stadium and within walking distance to classes and events, as well as rail transit. Designed under Build It Green standards, the new housing will be on the site of a former industrial building.

“We chose Build It Green because it’s the system the City of San Jose is using for its project compatibility and its streamline process,” Obitz tells MHN. Bay Area Build It Green was formed in 2003 by a number of local and regionally focused public agencies, building industry professionals, manufactures, and suppliers, and focuses on increasing the supply of green homes and providing Bay Area consumers and residential building industry professionals a source of information on sustainable building practices.

Some of the eco-friendly design features include: Energy Star-rated lighting and windows; Dark Sky compliant exterior lighting; water-saving fixtures in the bathrooms; high efficiency dual-flush toilets; trash and recycling receptacles made from recycled content; zero VOC interior paints and low VOC interior finishes and adhesives; and building materials that contain recycled content and which don’t emit harmful chemicals.