Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) group honored the renovation of Great America Commons as ‘an example to follow.’
LPA’s renovation of an office campus in Santa Clara, California, recently earned the Project Excellence Award from the Silicon Valley chapter of Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW). LPA Managing Director of Interior Design Kim Izadi and project team members from Harvest Properties, PGIM Real Estate, Cushman & Wakefield, KBM Hogue and McLarney Construction accepted the award at the chapter’s 11th Annual Awards and Wine Celebration.
LPA’s integrated design team efficiently used outdoors spaces and targeted interior strategies to transform the 635,000-square-foot Great America Commons campus to address the modern workplace market. PGIM Real Estate and property manager Harvest Properties sought to renew and rebrand the property and bring to market an office campus that would meet the demands of tenants looking for a place to call home.
“[Great America Commons] shines in a way that makes it an example to follow,” said CREW in an announcement. “Especially with the ups and downs of the office market, the winner of this year’s Project Excellence award provides proof that highly amenitized office properties outperform more traditional office spaces.”
LPA provided architecture, interiors, lighting design, landscape architecture, civil engineering, environmental graphics and furniture design for the renovation. The design added a suite of outdoor amenities and improvements to the lobbies of the twin, six-story office towers. New glass canopies rebrand the campus from the street side, inviting occupants into the expanded, multi-story lobbies.
This was a collaborative effort to develop a design that responded to a fast-changing market,” Izadi says. “We were always looking to focus resources where they could have the most impact.
The renovation was implemented in phases throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling Great America Commons to emerge post-pandemic with a refreshed and in-demand property.
“This was a collaborative effort to develop a design that responded to a fast-changing market,” Izadi says. “We were always looking to focus resources where they could have the most impact.”
LPA landscape architects worked with PGIM Real Estate, Harvest Properties and the design team to reimagine the 103,000-square-foot lawn space between the towers with basketball courts, a fireside lounge with outdoor grill, an amphitheater, a relaxation garden, an outdoor boardroom and an exterior fitness area.
“The huge lawn area was a perfect opportunity to provide another area for employees craving an outdoor connection,” said LPA Landscape Architecture Project Designer Andrew Wickham. “We wanted to create an oasis in the middle of the surrounding desert of asphalt where people want to come to work and stick around to enjoy themselves.”
