SWA provided full landscape architectural services for this mixed-use development, which includes a 120-room luxury hotel, five villa residences, a supporting office complex, fitness center, spa and multi-use space. The Sand Hill Hotel and associated offices are nestled onto a dramatic hillside that slopes toward the Santa Cruz Mountains immediately beyond I-280. that runs from Crystal Springs to Los Gatos, it has become an extension of that very California hilltop landscape. The existing native mix of valley oaks, coast live oaks, madrones, redwoods and olive trees extend onto and around the site perimeters, visually connecting it with the adjacent environment. Canary Island palms mark the grand hotel drop-off, and site-wide plantings include bright swaths of lavender, sage, or flowering indigenous perennials, with usable grass provided in the larger courtyards for multi-purpose activities and events. A large, central swimming pool and terrace and several ornamental fountains are located among the hotel townhouse and office courtyards, providing the refreshing sound of water.
Work attributed to SWA/Balsley principal John Wong and his team with SWA Group.
Samsung Headquarters
The new headquarters for Samsung SSI, in San Jose, is a bold vision for a campus and a workplace that highlights interaction. The buildings encourage communication and interaction, leading to a synergistic working environment designed to further transform Samsung into a regional leader in Silicon Valley. To harmonize with the architectural expression, we creat...
Brentwood Town Centre
Following SWA’s development of a 2013 master plan for a new town center adjacent to the existing Brentwood Shopping Mall, the firm was enlisted to design the project’s public realm and expand its role as an integrated, sustainable, urban community. With key connectivity to main vehicular arteries and a high-speed train line, the new development functions as a ...
Walmart Home Office Landscape Master Plan
What if the vast and varied landscapes of Northwest Arkansas surrounded and thrived all around the future Walmart Home Office Campus, reversing the typical expectations of a corporate headquarters campus? Walmart as a corporation has always celebrated its hometown heritage, and so their mandate for the 350-acre campus follows that same instinct: to preserve na...
Giant Interactive Headquarters
We 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 s...