Massive Green Roof Park Planned for Cupertino
CUPERTINO, Calif. — In 2014, Sand Hill Property Company acquired the Vallco Shopping Mall in Silicon Valley. The shopping mall has been in trouble for years and has had its lower level shut down for over a decade. Sand Hill Property Company hopes to re-develop the shopping mall into something innovative, sustainable, and green in Cupertino.
After Sand Hill bought the former Vallco Shopping Mall, they decided to use an innovative idea and create a new neighborhood hotspot featuring shops, restaurants, office space, and houses topped with a large green roof area. On August 26, the company announced that Rafael Vinoly Architects would take on the project and create a new neighborhood on the Vallco grounds.
Sand Hill principle and founder, Peter Pau said that after they bought Vallco, they did not want to do a run-of-the-mill project, but wanted to create something unique and different because they were given a unique opportunity. The company did not see the point of building a new mall if it was not going to be a new and innovative design.
During a meeting at the Rotary Club of Cupertino on August 26, the company said that this would be like nothing they have ever attempted. The 15-block area will have 625,000 square feet of retail, 2 million square feet of office space and 800 residential units.
According to planner Rafael Vinoly Architects, the new, mixed-use neighborhood is going to be more family-friendly and will have housing above the shops. This includes around 680 apartments, 80 affordable homes, and 40 flats available for the elderly. Reed Moulds, managing director for Sand Hill Property Company said, “The housing reflects our community — market rate for tech workers and young families, affordable housing for our teachers and firefighters, and quality housing reserved for our seniors.”
The $3 billion project will cover 15 blocks and will include buildings all covered with an expansive green roof, which will connect all of the buildings to each other and the ground. As the new neighborhood is a mixed-use project, including a large green area outside, Rafael Vinoly Architects is working with the landscape architects for the Apple Campus 2, Olin Landscape Architects.
When the project is complete, it will be the largest green roof in the world. The roof will expand throughout the 30-acre plot the neighborhood is being built on. Some of the features are a 3.8-mile jogging track, an amphitheater, a children’s play space, vineyards and an orchard. The new city center will be anchored at the ground level by two town squares and will be surrounded by a mix of retail that they hope will attract residents with active lifestyles as well as office workers and new residents for the housing units.
Sand Hill and Rafael Vinoly know that this project is very big and does not come without its risks. The project, which is being called the Hills at Vallco is the biggest project yet for Sand Hill and will include many obstacles, such as resistance from the town of Cupertino, where smaller proposals are often questioned.
One part of the project that brings a lot of risk is having an elevated park. The park alone would be a large engineering feat as it is over twice as big as anything ever attempted before. The company believes that they will be able to build the park, but also acknowledge that the cost to build it is going to be large as well.
Although both Sand Hill and Rafael Vinoly Architects understand that there is great risk they hope that the rewards will be great enough to move the project forward. Moulds said, “The Hills at Vallco will become the heart of an emerging downtown, with an authentic sense of place, connection, innovation and beauty, and a level of vibrancy and sustainability not yet experienced in Silicon Valley.