Milpitas City Hall
Milpitas, Calif.
STUDIOS Architecture

A burgeoning city's new headquarters radiates with innovation

© Tim Griffith

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Perhaps no other building defines a community’s identity as much as its city hall. The new 57,000-square-foot facility is a pivotal element in a city in the midst of transforming from bedroom community to full member of the Silicon Valley megalopolis. The design captures the city’s desire to synthesize traditional public architecture with a forward-looking modern spirit. Clad in limestone veneer and low "e" glass, the structure articulates a vision of innovation within a civic envelope, as volumes peel away to reveal inner layers upon approaching the building.

The central rotunda dominates the interior—a ceremonial space that functions as the engine of the building’s sophisticated HVAC scheme. Working with building engineer Arup, the architects designed the rotunda as a solar chimney that would provide natural light and ventilation to the building’s interior. Other functions radiate out from the rotunda and its adjacent public service counter. As supporting elements to the main mass of city hall, the expressive form of the council chambers, which features state-of-the-art audiovisuals, and the shield that shelters the western exposure of the central glass clerestory, are markedly curvilinear and sheathed in metal skins. Glass curtain walls sweep across the façades of the office floors, and long spans and cantilevers play against the solidity of the base of the building. Light, clarity, and the ability to respond to changing scales and use with ease make this project a model for new civic buildings.

Location:
Milpitas, Calif.

Gross square footage:
62,000 sq. ft.

Owner:
City of Milpitas

Architect:
STUDIOS Architecture
99 Green Street
San Francisco, CA 94111
t. 415.398.7575
f. 415.398.7763
www.studiosarch.com