Date: 13 November 2025
Inspired by the tree bark of the nearby Pepper Canyon, strips of Solarban® 72 Acuity® glass and Solarban® 90 glass by Vitro Architectural Glass alternate with metal panels and perforated metal shading fins to emulate the bark and vertical striations of eucalyptus trees at the University of California San Diego’s Pepper Canyon West Living and Learning neighborhood.
A pair of 22-story and 23-story asymmetrical towers flank a large canyon-like courtyard with walking paths, bicycle trails and spaces for study and relaxation. The buildings feature outdoor terraces and wood-paneled lounges with 1,300 below-market-rate units for transfer and upper-division students.
“The building’s unique design was conceptualized as two ascending spirals linking the canyon to the sky, with an emphasis on outdoor spaces and connectivity,” stated Ryan Bussard, AIA, LEED® AP, principal and design director, Perkins&Will, Seattle. “Stepped terraces stack upwards and introduce lounges and sky terraces with each turn; two central courtyards create a sense of community for the students, forming connections with the canyon rim trail and pathways as well as a larger network of open spaces within the district.”
To meet the University’s sustainability and indoor-outdoor connectivity objectives, high performance glazing for the unitized curtain wall system was key.
Seeking high transparency and low reflectivity for the podium, the architects specified Solarban® 72 Acuity® glass. The glazing delivers a visible light transmittance (VLT) of 67% and a solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) of 0.28.
With the apartment towers requiring a higher level of thermal performance, Solarban® 90 glass by Vitro was better suited with its VLT of 51% and SHGC of 0.23.
While other glass products were considered, the aesthetics and affordability of Solarban® glass won out.
“Aesthetically the glass needed to be color neutral, with a medium reflectivity to create a unified façade that was complementary with other adjacent campus buildings. Pepper Canyon West also had a tight budget, particularly for the façade, and Vitro’s products were best able to meet that target and the additional considerations,” reported Bussard.
To optimally configure the amount of vision glass per curtain wall unit based on its location in the towers, computational design scripting was employed to evaluate the associated façade orientation and reduce the overall solar heat gain.
“The ratio of unit types on each façade was adjusted so that building elevations with larger solar heat gain contain fewer units with the largest vision glass, while elevations with lower solar heat gain contain more units with the maximum vision glass,” explained Bussard.
The calculations resulted in vision glass percentage shifts of between 37% and 43%. The subtle changes optimize building performance without compromising the façade’s visual consistency.
For the podium with the Solarban® 72 Acuity® glass, large 13-foot x 5-foot lites provide transparency and clear, open views for the public spaces.
Most apartment units in the towers contain an operable Solarban® 90 glass, 2-foot x 6-foot awning window for natural ventilation, and a fixed glass lite ranging from 2-feet, 6-inches x 6 feet to 4-feet, 6-inches x 6 feet.
“This flexible but modular sizing of glass lites allowed the design team to create variation across the façade while using an economy of scale to minimize cost,” said Bussard.
From each metal panel face, a perforated fin extends out, providing shading and glare control while appearing as a continuation of the metal panel surface and pattern. To maximize economy of scale, all fins were fabricated to the same 1-foot size regardless of façade orientation. Energy modeling arrived at the optimized fin angle of 60 degrees.
“A pop of color was also overlaid on the façade with a select few colored fins that are sprinkled about near the ground plane. The colored fins undulate along the façade patterning and smoothly transition from color to color as they march along the different faces of each building,” related Bussard.
The north building features a more urban palette of purple to orange, based on its proximity to the light rail station. Meanwhile, the south building has a more canyon-inspired palette of yellow to green.
Project Credits:
- Architect: Perkins&Will
- Glass Fabricator: Millet Glass Industry
- Glazing Contractor: Benson Industries
- Photographer: Tom Kessler
For more information about Solarban® 72 Acuity® glass, Solarban® 90 glass and all other Vitro Architectural Glass products, visit vitroglazings.com or call 1-855-VTRO-GLS (887-6457).
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