Custom Perforated Panels Transform a Tech Building’s Entryway – Arktura Case Study

Designing a Landmark Entryway for San Jose’s Silicon Valley Tech Corridor

Crafting a signature aesthetic and functional entryway for 160 Santa Clara in San Jose, CA, was at the forefront of Arktura’s collaborative design work on this project. This 15,000 sq ft building is complete with an interior/exterior application of our Vapor® Graphic Perf® panels, created by our Solutions Studio® team, in a custom pattern paired with colorful programmable Philips Color Kinetics RGB. The illuminated panels stretch from the building’s exterior, drawing eyes with its bright display, and continue seamlessly into its lobby area. This technology-centric project was completed in partnership with ESI and installed by Acoustic Specialties. The project scope includes custom Interior and Exterior Vapor® Graphic Perf®.

A Map in Binary: How Silicon Valley’s History Is Encoded in the Custom Perforated Panel Design

Tying into the rich history of California’s Silicon Valley, this project totaling 68 panels and 700 square feet, is in the heart of the tech world, San Jose. This project features a hybrid interior and exterior installation with backlighting programmed to cycle through illumination shows day and night. Custom interior panels were used along with 1/8” alum Exterior Vapor® Panels. The colorful custom-designed patterns of these Vapor® panels, installed from floor to ceiling, are designed to display a unique map meant to represent the geographical waterways of the Santa Clara Valley.

This “map” is brought to life with the outline made from binary 1’s and 0’s, another nod bridging the natural aspects of the region to its new home as the nation’s tech hub. Panels were easily attached to the walls using a custom version of our Vertika® Wall Channel system set to 9” depth. The backlighting fades in and out of different gradients, providing movement and soothing spectral shifts that establish a welcoming, dynamic, and coveted character to visitors and tenants alike.

Programmable RGB Lighting That Creates Dynamic, Around-the-Clock Visual Impact

The custom project developed by our Solutions Studio® features colorful Color Kinetics flex lights to power the vivid, kaleidoscopic showcase. The backlighting fades in and out of different gradients, providing movement and soothing spectral shifts that establish a welcoming, dynamic, and coveted character to visitors and tenants alike. This mesmerizing lighting effect adds street presence and curb appeal to the commercial building, allowing it to be visible from afar. The RGB lighting and programming presented its own set of challenges, luckily for the installers the project had a special lighting design team (ESI) who was there to assist along the way.

Street Presence by Design: Curb Appeal and Community Identity in Commercial Architecture

The overall project was completed in 2020. The final look is meant to evoke a futuristic hub enticing tech companies to take up residence here while also providing nods to the local community and becoming a destination in its own right. In an additional send-up to its locality, the code seen in the panel’s perforations, when translated, spells out the poem “It’s Been a Long Time” by Bay Area poet Joanne Kyger.

Project Details

Project Name: 160 W Santa Clara

Location: San Jose, CA

Architect: ESI

Installer: Acoustic Specialties

Systems: Vapor® Graphic Perf®

To learn more about bringing these dynamic architectural solutions to your next project, contact your local rep today!