100 Altair: architecture and city in dialogue

Located in Sunnyvale, in the heart of South Bay, San Francisco, the 100 Altair project brings landscape architecture into the workplace, reflecting the growing trend of using outdoor spaces as functional extensions of offices.

HGA designed the building – together with SWA as landscape architect – to fully integrate into the surrounding urban fabric and offer employees an interactive green work environment. One of the most distinctive elements of the project is the design of the rooftop. A multifunctional outdoor space designed to host meetings and private conversations, it’s not just an extension of the offices inside, but a genuine outdoor workspace.

 

100 Altair: a design that embraces the city

This is a design that doesn’t simply look inward but expands outward, embracing the city via its striking glass structure and a façade that reflects the colors and shapes of the surrounding city. At the entrance, protruding walls covered with creeping plants invite visitors to step inside.

This theme is repeated at street level, with its curbless streetscape encouraging pedestrian movement and promoting flowing interactions between the public space and the new architecture. This is an inclusive design that improves accessibility while creating a sense of continuity between the urban and built environments, thereby creating a more connected and livable city experience.

 

A multifunctional green rooftop

The rooftop spaces offer panoramic views across the city, including historic downtown Sunnyvale, the nearby CalTrain station, and Plaza Del Sol park, therefore establishing a visual and functional connection between the building and its location. The selection of plants and layout of the outdoor space, with plantings of different heights and sizes, were inspired by the native landscape of the region and its unique character.

Made up of irregular shapes, a white metal shade trellis surmounts the seating and table area, offering different amounts of shade. The floors combine gray tiling with some timber sections to create alternating areas for sitting and walking.

 

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