THE HILLS AT VALLCO

Cupertino, USA
OLIN, Rafael Vinoly

The Vallco Shopping Mall in Cupertino, in California’s Silicon Valley, was built in 1980 over a 50 acre site, and declined by the 2000s, when only 50% of the mall was occupied. Sand Hill Property Company purchased the mall in 2014 and proposed a new development to transform the mall into a mixed-use town center in a city where the median home price is over two million dollars. The development is between the Apple Infinite Loop headquarters and Apple Campus 2. The Hills at Vallco is meant to house startups from their incubation period through to established businesses, while providing residential housing and programmed recreation for employees, as well as retail space. 680 market rate apartments, 80 affordable housing apartments and 40 apartments for seniors are planned in the complex. The plan includes programmatic areas both indoor and outdoor, including vineyards and orchards, a chef’s garden and urban playground and playing fields, as well as retail and dining next to housing, a sunken town square and office spaces. The community park is on a 30-acre rooftop with 3.8 miles of walking and jogging trails. The rooftop touches the grade in eastern Cupertino before rising over the development. The slope is planted with buffer trees to protect the privacy of the existing residential neighborhood at the bottom of the development. Additionally, recycled water will be used for irrigation, heating and cooling systems that recapture rainwater across the green roof, which will be planted with drought tolerant landscaping. After 20 open community meetings, The Hills at Vallco proposed including an elementary school and an innovation center for high school students within the development.

2018
30 acres
236 feet above sea level

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