Luxuriant Shade Among the Sacramento Valley Grasslands
{"autoplay":"true","autoplay_speed":"8000","speed":"1000","arrows":"true","dots":"false","loop":"true","nav_slide_column":5,"rtl":"false"}
{"autoplay":"true","autoplay_speed":"8000","speed":"1000","arrows":"true","dots":"false","loop":"true","nav_slide_column":5,"rtl":"false"}

DETAILS

LocationRoseville, California, United States
ClientHED Architects
Size500 acres

This restudy of the master plan for the 200-hectare Hewlett Packard site at Roseville, undertaken with architects Holland, East & Duvivier, led to a new master plan for the 23,000-square-meter service, repair, and distribution facility on the site as well as full landscape architectural services for the upgrading of the surrounding landscape. The plan details building placement, road layout, grading, entries, pedestrian ways, employee recreation areas, and open space, while accommodating a modular building type intended to serve as a prototype for future Hewlett Packard expansion.

The property had previously suffered from difficult soil conditions and a series of long, hot summers that had killed off all previous landscaping efforts. The solution, proposed by SWA, was not to try to master the environment but to respect and appreciate it. Drought-tolerant native grassland was reestablished wherever possible, and against the background of the vast, open plain of the Sacramento Valley, shade was introduced wherever possible. A poplar-lined pedestrian walkway is raised above the Chinese Elm-shaded parking lot, leading into the building. Oaks and Bradford pear trees were used to unify the recreational complex and to give its large sports courts areas both scale and shade. To help the trees thrive, root competition from shrubs, ground cover, and lawns was eliminated, and the permeable ground plan emphasizes localized and individual watering, as well as a sub-drain system to mitigate flash floods.

Related Projects

Electronic Arts

The plan for the Electronic Arts corporate campus included nine office buildings, a commons building (including a cafeteria, health center, and fitness center), a theater, a parking structure, and a childcare center. The computer game software company’s offices support a grand lawn quad. The quad not only provides a campus focus but also serves as a stor...

North Texas Corporate Campus

Facing arduous competition to attract and retain top employee talent, companies are distinguishing themselves through the design of their workplaces. SWA worked with the client to reimagine and reinvigorate an outdated campus into a stimulating and rewarding work environment with quality amenities. To undertake the challenge of this campus transformation, the ...

Giant Interactive Headquarters

SWA collaborated with Morphosis Architects on a new ecological park and living laboratory for Giant Interactive Headquarters, a 45-acre corporate campus in Shanghai, China. The design concept blurs the distinction between the ground plane and the structure, weaving water and wetland habitats together with the folded green roof of the main building design. The ...

Nanjing Tech Campus

This industrial park, located in Nanjing’s prominent Hongshan District, is an iterative upgrade of Shenzhen Galaxy World that will activate industry and finance city innovation. SWA proposed a “rivers and stars” design concept for the north and south commercial districts respectively, creating an attractive, flowing, high-quality commercial landscape for this ...

Google Headquarters

As a winner of the ASLA’s Centennial Medallion, this project is recognized as one of the most significant landscapes of the last century. The former SGI campus, acquired by Google in 2004, and the adjacent Charleston Park, comprise a 26-acre brownfield site. The design creates a strong identity for the campus and provides a much-needed civic space, blurring di...

Grand Central Creative Campus

SWA provided landscape design services for the redevelopment of existing corporate offices at the Grand Central Creative Campus, a center for innovation and creativity on 10.5 acres of mixed office, amenity, parking, and outdoor space. The design is organized around a strong central pedestrian spine that frames the Verdugo mountains to the east; connects peopl...

Giant Interactive Headquarters

SWA collaborated with Morphosis Architects on a new ecological park and living laboratory for Giant Interactive Headquarters, a 45-acre corporate campus in Shanghai, China. The design concept blurs the distinction between the ground plane and the structure, weaving water and wetland habitats together with the folded green roof of the main building design. The ...

Symantec Chengdu

SWA provided landscape design for Symantec’s research and development complex. The site was previously inactive and banal until SWA’s design reinvigorated the area, linking the building program and connecting the site to the larger city. The landscape design produces a “brocade,” weaving together the building and site program, and offering an oasis amid the de...