It’s an old joke about our state’s consumptive culture that California’s architects can design parking lots that put others to shame. In the case of the newly remodeled Sentinel Building, it’s true, but the joke is on the person who made it. Bio-swale troughs surround the parking lot to metabolize runoff oil, covered bicycle parking and onsite showers are set up for pedal-powered commuters and electric vehicle charging stations wait to be installed—just the start of a long list of sustainable features at the recently re-designed downtown building. Story continues below slide show.
Originally constructed in 1966 as the headquarters of the Santa Cruz Sentinel, 207 Church Street will soon be home to Cruzio Internet and the headquarters of the nonprofit Ecology Action, as well as a small collection of office, commercial and co-working spaces available for rent from Appenrodt Commercial Properties. Architectural firm Thatcher and Thompson preserved the exterior of the building and salvaged elements from the original structure—a maple rail, for example, that once ran around the outside of the building now serves as a hand-rail for the interior staircase. Repurposing of available materials is a theme. A rain catchment system will provide irrigation for the low-water landscaping, 216 solar panels will provide 51 kilowatts of energy for the building and strategically placed windows and fans will allow for natural air circulation throughout the building.
In anticipation of their move, Cruzio founder Peggy Dolgenos rolls out the building’s crowning glory. “We brought fiber over the hill,” she says, referring to the routing of a fiber optic network through downtown Santa Cruz. It’s a first for the city, and a move that Dolgenos hopes will mean “more companies can start here, and more companies can stay here.” In addition to housing the company’s server farm and technical support call center, Cruzio’s third of the building includes a classroom space for instruction on search engine optimization, social media and web design. A computer repair center will also be onsite, along with a business-grade wireless connection and a special high-capacity 10,000 megabits-per-second (enough to stream 3,276 HD films at once) “fiber bar” open to the public for large uploads and downloads.
While Cruzio’s priority was the building’s high-tech capacity, Ecology Action placed an emphasis on aesthetics. Vice President Chuck Tremper said that because many of the nonprofit’s employees are used to working outside, they tried to create the sense of being outdoors inside, for example by constructing an “aedicula, ” or a structure resembling the exterior of a building inside, for their conference room. The space is illuminated by natural light from “solar tubes” (pipes that jut down from the ceiling to let in light) and skylights with wide aperture designs to maximize light diffusion. Santa Cruz retailer Green Space helped by outfitting the Ecology Action offices with recycled resin tiles, recycled rubber stairs and cork and marmoleum floors.
The total price tag for the renovation of 207 Church Street is estimated at $5 million, though that figure likely doesn’t include additional costs divided among the three partners. Strategic Construction Management, responsible for handling the building’s accreditation, expects that the building to achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold rating, likely to be confirmed next spring after all construction items have been fully tabulated.
