50 West Santa Clara, San Jose, CA

Category: Sports and Leisure

Square Footage: 4,500 sq ft

Services Provided: HVAC, Plumbing

Completion Date: 2014

Owner: DivcoWest

Architect: Habitec

The upper floor of this high-rise office building was under-used as miscellaneous storage for the facilities department. Divco West decided to repurpose the floor as a fitness center that tenants on the floors below could buy memberships for. This area of the building was never meant to be an occupied space for comfort, so the floor-to-bottom-of-beam height was very low and inhibited duct distribution. There were also structural cross-bracing members and concrete berms dispersed throughout the area. The architect devised a robust space plan to accommodate the structural members.

Pragmatic PE engineered a clever distribution layout for both HVAC and Plumbing systems to make the fitness center a comfortable place for a workout. Adding bathrooms and showers to the top floor of a building usually requires significant intrusions into the floor below, which was occupied, but Pragmatic PE coordinated with the owner and architect on the layout and fixture choices to minimize these intrusions. Today, the fitness center is fully functional and generating income for the property owner while providing a convenient space for office workers to workout and shower