This slide show describes the landscape design for the Packard Foundation's green headquarters. It includes a description of the goals, strategies and choices made to ensure water efficiency and water stewardship. The presentation includes photographs, landscape plans and plant choices (90% of plantings are native to California) and describes the rainwater recapture system.
Apidays New York 2024 - Scaling API-first by Ian Reasor and Radu Cotescu, Adobe
Sustainable Landscape Design by Joni L Janecki & Assoc.
1. D A V I D & L U C I L E P A C K A R D F O U N D A T I O N
3 4 3 S E C O N D S T R E E T , L O S A L T O S
SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPE DESIGN:
• WATER MANAGEMENT
• REGIONALLY-SOURCED MATERIALS
• CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANTS
JONI L. JANECKI & ASSOCIATES, INC.
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS
515 SWIFT STREET, SANTA CRUZ
(831) 423-6040 / WWW.JLJA.COM
3. D E S I G N C O N C E P T
• Pull the building apart to create a
central courtyard that...
- maximizes daylight to interiors
- provides outside views for all offices
- allows for interior/exterior flow and
work spaces
• Courtyard whose main features are...
- stone drainage channel that provides the
seam between the buildings
- two distinct California landscapes on
either side of the seam: woodland and
grassland
- large deciduous trees that cool the
building in the summer
- flexible seating that encourages use of
the courtyard by small and large groups
Sketch by EHDD
4. L A N D S C A P E P L A N V I E W
Staff Parking Lots
Second Street / Rain Gardens
San Antonio Rd.
Courtyard
Expansion
Space
Entry
Roof
Garden
Visitor
Parking Lot
5. S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y I N T H E L A N D S C A P E - Visitor Parking Lot
• Repetition of materials found throughout the site leads visitors to building entrance across the street
• Use of colored concrete pavers with a Solar Reflectivity Index greater than 29 reduces urban heat island effect
• Paving drains to a vegetated swale along the parking edge to capture stormwater run-off
• Placement of elevated photovoltaic panels and trees required careful planning to avoid competition
6. E X T E R I O R S P A C E S - Entry
• Entry experience is
inviting and welcoming
• Incorporates materials
found throughout site,
reflecting entire campus
• Stone paving carefully
laid to assist in way-
finding, leading visitors
from parking lot to entry
• Entry oak anchors
building and ties
landscape to larger
California landscape
• Oak was grown in Clear
Lake from an acorn
collected in San Mateo
County 20+ years ago
Photo by Kris Knutson
7. E X T E R I O R S P A C E S - Roof Planting
• The green roof is a reflection of California’s
unique micro-climates – an eddy in the larger
campus landscape
• The lightweight planting medium, minimal soil,
extremes of heat and cold as well as sun and
shade, and episodic water meant that roof
plantings could not replicate the grassland or
woodland plant palette present on the rest of the
site
• Soil depth starts at 6” next to the building and
builds to 10” at outer edge
Photo by Kris Knutson
8. JLJA selected a tapestry of succulents, plus one grass
species, to provide flexibility in case any particular species
did not survive the harsh environment.
• Echeveria imbricata (Hens and Chicks)
• Festuca glauca (Common Blue Fescue)
• Sedum sediforme (Pale Stonecrop)
• Sedum spathulifolium (Broadleaf Stonecrop)
• Sedum spurium ‘Voodoo’ (Voodoo Stonecrop)
• Thymus praecox arcticus ‘Elfin’ (Creeping Thyme)
• Thymus pseudolanuginosus (Woolly Thyme)
• Thymus vulgaris (Common Thyme)
E X T E R I O R S P A C E S - Roof Planting
9. E X T E R I O R S P A C E S - Courtyard
• Courtyard plantings --
grassland/meadow on one side
of the seam, woodland on the
other – reflect two distinct
California landscapes and
respond to different light
conditions
• Multiple seating options allow the
courtyard to be tailored to a wide
variety of uses by individuals,
small groups, and large
gatherings
• The infiltration trench is key to
stormwater management:
- courtyard paving pitches
towards trench
- below-grade trench collects
and holds water so it slowly
percolates down into the soil
10. E X T E R I O R S P A C E S - Courtyard
• London plane trees were selected two
years before installation and contract
grown specifically for this project.
- Trees are deciduous for building
climate control: providing cooling
shade in the summer and more sun
and light after leaves drop in winter
- Size: tall enough to shade building,
but not to block rooftop solar panels;
wide enough to fill space, but not to
overwhelm
- Roots: not invasive or prone to
pavement upheaval
11. E X T E R I O R S P A C E S - Expansion Space
• The Packard Foundation was
particularly concerned with
the site’s edges and its
relationship to its neighbors –
the Expansion Space was
crucial to maintaining a
welcoming, pedestrian-
friendly site
• The large area needed to be
appealing from a variety of
experiences: groundplane,
second story of building, and
pedestrian and vehicular
views along San Antonio
Road and Second Street
12. S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y I N T H E L A N D S C A P E - Green Streets
• Curbside, flow-through rain gardens capture stormwater from
Second Street, slow it down, filter it through vegetation, then
allow a fraction of it to exit into the city’s storm drainage system
• Planters designed to preserve existing street trees in order to
maintain neighborhood feeling and scale
• Rain garden plant selections thrive with periods of seasonal
flooding and drought
- Aquilegia formosa (Western Columbine)
one of Mrs. Packard’s favorite flowers
- Heuchera maxima (Island Alum Root)
- Heuchera micrantha (Coral Bells)
- Iris douglasiana (Pacific Coast Iris)
- Juncus patens ‘Elk Blue’ (California Gray Rush)
- Ribes viburnifolium (Evergreen Currant)
13. S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y I N T H E L A N D S C A P E - Green Streets
• The entire site can manage 90% of annual
rainfall on-site through a combination of:
- rain gardens
- vegetated swales
- unlined retention basins
- underground infiltration trenches
14. S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y I N T H E L A N D S C A P E - Water harvesting: cisterns
• Two 10,000-gallon
underground tanks
capture rainwater from
the roof
• Cistern water is used to
flush the building’s
toilets and meets 90%
of demand
• Cistern water is also
used for irrigation
• The municipal water
company supplies any
additional water needs
Diagram by Integral Group
15. E X T E R I O R S P A C E S - Detention Basin
• Overflow from the
cisterns goes to the
detention basin
• Water is held for up to
48 hours and allowed
to absorb into the soil;
excess then exits to
the city’s storm
drainage system
• The detention basin is
planted with plants
that tolerate periods of
drought and
inundation
16. S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y I N T H E L A N D S C A P E - Native Plants
• Native plants reflect the Packard
Family’s values concerning
conservation and sustainability
• 90% of the plants used are
native to California
• Why plant native plants:
- They provide valuable habitat
for birds, insects, and bees,
creating a miniature
ecosystem on the Foundation
campus
- They thrive without fertilizers,
pesticides, and herbicides,
thus ensuring a flourishing
ecosystem
- They translate to an irrigation
savings of 30%, based on
plant choices alone, compared
to a ‘traditional’ landscape
17. F O R M O R E I N F O R M A T I O N
Visit the David and Lucile Packard Foundation website for more information
about the LEED® Platinum and Net Zero Energy Building certified
headquarters.
View the list of plants used on the Foundation’s campus.
Visit the Joni L. Janecki and Associates, Inc. website.
