Kresge College At The University Of California Santa Cruz
Strengthening an Independent College for Long-Term Self-Reliance
Known for its iconic architecture nestled within a redwood forest, Kresge College at U.C. Santa Cruz sets its sights on the future with a new, highly sustainable infrastructure system that empowers water independence and long-term resilience.
Sited at the University of California Santa Cruz’s northwesternmost edge, Kresge College has been widely recognized since its inception as the most independent of the university’s ten colleges, and the most unique parcel of the campus. The liberal arts school opened to students in 1973, and features residential and academic buildings that were designed in the late 1960s and early 1970s by renowned postmodern architects Charles Moore and William Turnbull of MLTW Turnbull Associates, and Dan Kiley Landscape Architecture. Resembling an intimate Italian hillside village, the iconic design was a specific response to the challenging, steeply sloped site within a redwood forest, and celebrated the natural environment as a central design element rather than a backdrop. The design also reflected the school’s unique free-spirited, community-centric culture and its academic focus on creative and critical thinking, collaboration and participatory democracy – a culture that firmly connects the 50-year-old college with its 21st century mission to promote environmental sustainability and social justice, and the inextricable links between the two.
As part of the UC Santa Cruz long-range development plan, the Kresge Renewal Project was established with the goal to modernize and expand the campus, increase its residential capacity, improve its circulation and connections to the larger university, and replace its infrastructure systems, all while preserving its strong legacy and conserving its rich natural landscape. Kresge College’s water infrastructure would be a priority, not only improving site grading, preservation and stormwater treatment, but also addressing long-term strategies to reduce water consumption – even as the campus expands – and strengthen the UCSC water infrastructure system-wide.
Sherwood Design Engineers has a long-standing relationship with the University of California system, and with UCSC directly, which facilitated the firm’s involvement in the university’s large scale infrastructure planning. While the Kresge project presented an opportunity to tackle a smaller portion of the campus, thinking strategically, the client understood the significant value gained from developing a master infrastructure plan for the university at-large rather than designing systems project-by-project. This approach would not only ensure that the university systems are designed to be integrated and efficient, but the master plan would also give UCSC greater visibility into the way they’d need to allocate resources in the future. Sherwood helped to visualize long-term needs and align infrastructure with the university’s overall goals for growth, accessibility and sustainability – and within the Kresge Renewal Project, served as the university’s infrastructure advocate with the broader design team.
The award winning architecture firm Studio Gang led the design charge at Kresge College, bringing a 21st century aesthetic to the historic campus. Along with more than eight buildings to be rebuilt, the first phase included construction of four new buildings – each featuring concrete podiums and mass timber structures clad with wood, metal, and abundant floor-to-ceiling glass that complements the white stucco and colored-panel facades in Moore and Turnbull’s original designs. Honoring the culture that’s deeply embedded in the campus, all new buildings were thoughtfully nestled into the topography and designed to bend around the redwood trees.
The site’s significant topographic and ecological challenges, including the redwoods, the steep and long ridgelines flanked by highly sensitive drainage ravines – paired with the site’s complex existing utilities and the project’s sustainability goals – made it critical to lay out the infrastructure plan early and lock it in. Capturing stormwater runoff from roofs and hardscapes and storing it for reuse was a priority, ultimately pointing to a storage capacity of more than 100,000 gallons. Yet Kresge’s site constraints meant there were only two places where sufficiently-sized storage tanks could be installed, along with an innovative system that treats the harvested water before it’s conveyed for non-potable reuse in irrigation and toilet flushing throughout Kresge’s new buildings. While the project’s overall design continued to evolve, Sherwood’s team had to be creative and precise in the way the water infrastructure was integrated into the complex site, and once established, the plan had to remain firm.
Another unique constraint was the fact that UCSC’s geographic location – north of the city of Santa Cruz, and at a higher elevation – means that water flows from the campus through the city to the Pacific coast, motivating the team to consider innovative ways to mitigate downstream flood, erosion and pollution risks. The region’s population growth and subsequent demand on the water supply also posed challenges. Through the infrastructure plan, Sherwood helped to shift the perception of stormwater regulations and supply issues from restrictions to opportunities for the school to invest in the whole community’s long-term resilience and its own water independence.
Connecting Kresge College’s new non-potable infrastructure with the broader UCSC campus also supported the university’s larger goal to improve circulation and accessibility, and created an opportunity to initiate and connect Kresge’s people to the campus’ water story. Pedestrian connection has been a critical part of the college since its inception, exemplified in the meandering path that has served as the campus’ central spine. By widening the walkways and enhancing the existing runnel system, pedestrian circulation paths are now integrated with the topography even further, and facilitate a natural process of collecting and filtering stormwater runoff for reuse. The prominent pedestrian bridge – a main artery between Kresge and the UCSC campus – was also enhanced and modernized with a structure suitable for the conveyance of water as well as pedestrian circulation.
Following Sherwood’s master infrastructure plan, over time there will be a buildout of a comprehensive conveyance system that links up and down this north-south spine and connects to Central Campus, empowering UCSC to take a big step forward in its goals of being more water independent and less reliant on the municipal water system.
Throughout its 50 year history, Kresge College has been a catalyst for change, with a reputation for experimentation and innovation. Now a catalyst for future sustainability initiatives, the Kresge Renewal Project has set new standards for UCSC and for the broader University of California system, illustrating what’s possible in terms of water harvesting and reuse, and underscoring the links between human experience and ecological resilience.