Santa Clara City Code ch. 18.26, Downtown Form-Based Code ch. 8 — Facade Design | Santa Clara City Code (Title 18, Zoning, July 2025 edition; partial) — Santa Clara

Santa Clara City Code ch. 18.26, Downtown Form-Based Code § 8.1 Intent and Applicability

This section further accomplishes the intent described in Section 7.1. The standards and guidelines of this section apply to all new building facades which face public streets and open spaces within the Plan Area.

Santa Clara City Code ch. 18.26, Downtown Form-Based Code § 8.2 Standards

A. Facade Composition. Facade elements shall be organized by a grid (Figure 8-1). Patterns of openings within each individual facade or Building Increment—when required per Section 7.2—shall be organized into a grid per the standards below. 1. Horizontal alignment of elements. Rooflines, openings, and materials within each facade or facade module must align horizontally, and be generally consistent in style across the entire width. 2. Vertical alignment of openings into bays. The entirety of a building’s facade or Massing Increment shall be clearly divided into vertical bays, subject to the following: a. Facade bays shall extend from the ground to the top of the facade and are defined by vertical structure (solid portions of wall, piers, etc.) which extends from the ground to the top of the facade. (See §8.2.F for more on expressing structure). b. Each bay must be between 15’ and 30’ wide. c. Openings shall be stacked within bays as illustrated below. Openings should typically be arranged symmetrically within bays. B. Buildings shall have a base, middle, and top (Figure 8-2). The building base should read as visually supportive, with materials that appear solid and strong. Building base heights are scaled to the size of the building; their height is regulated alongside building heights in Section 6.3 and Table 6-2. 1. The building base is the primary portion of the facade observed from the street, so it should feature details and materials which are pleasing to the pedestrian. The building base should be differentiated from the rest of the facade—whether by a string course, change in material, change in type of openings, or a combination of these elements. 2. The middle of the building features floors which should be generally repetitive, with only minor variations between each floor. 3. The top of the building should feature some form of capping element(s), such as a cornice, enhanced ornamentation, or a decorative parapet. In larger buildings, the upper most floor may be visually incorporated into the building design of the top. | Bay | | |---|---| Each bay in this example features a shopfront on the ground floor with 1 or 2 sets of upper floor windows stacked above. This pattern is especially appropriate for the Shopfront Overlay. BAYS—Facades can be organized into bays, regardless of style. Middle Base FIGURE 8-2 | BASE, MIDDLE, AND TOP Building facades shall have a base, middle, and top. C. Facade Fenestration. 1. Fenestration Area. Facades shall be designed with fenestration—openings on the facade, including windows and doors—in the amounts identified by Table 8-1. a. Fenestration amount is calculated as a percentage of openings—including all windows and doors on the facade—to an area of facade. Each portion of the facade grid, as defined in Standard 8.2.A.3, must have a fenestration percentage which falls within the range identified by Table 8-1. This is illustrated in the facade diagram to the right. See Figure 8-3. b. Per Table 8-1, the required fenestration amount varies by Zone and Overlay (where applicable) and by location on the facade. 2. General to all floors: a. Except for shopfront or bay windows, window jambs shall be set in a minimum of 4 inches from the main facade plane. Trim/moldings on the facade do not count toward this recess depth. b. Opaque or fogged windows are prohibited. Windows and glazing on doors should have an external reflectance of less than 15%, and a transparency higher than 80%. c. Non-operable shutters—known as ‘faux shutters’—are prohibited. d. The horizontal distance between wall openings should not exceed 15 feet within a facade or massing increment. e. On street-facing facades, utility penetrations are prohibited (e.g., exhaust vents). 3. Specific to ground floors: a. The ground floor facade area is determined by multiplying the ground floor height (as regulated by Table 6-2) by its width. b. Structural elements (e.g., columns and piers) shall be visible on the facade exterior, and the front face of such structural elements shall align with the face of the facade above in order to visually convey that they support the facade and floors above. This is especially critical for ground floor facades with over 90% glass (to avoid the illusion that the upper floors are resting on a glass box). c. Bedroom and bathroom windows along any new or existing street is prohibited. d. Display windows which block views into interior spaces may only comprise up to 25% of the required fenestration area. e. Section 9 establishes further ground floor fenestration requirements, beyond the base standards in Table 8-1, to create a balance between privacy and transparency according to frontage type. TABLE 8-1 | FENESTRATION

Facade Area	Shopfront	Retail-Ready	General
Ground Floor	75% - 95%	65% - 95%	40% - 95%
Upper Floors	25% - 70%

FIGURE 8-3 | APPLYING THE FENESTRATION STANDARDS Each portion of the facade grid must meet the applicable fenestration requirement. This example displays Shopfront overlay requirements. 25–70% | 25–70% | 25–70% | 25–70% 25–70% | 25–70% | 25–70% | 25–70% 25–70% | 25–70% | 25–70% | 25–70% 75–95% | 75–95% | 75–95% | 75–95% 4. Specific to upper floors: a. Wall openings should generally not span across stories (vertically) or bays (horizontally). b. Upper-floor wall openings shall be square or taller than they are wide. Individual vertically-proportioned windows can be grouped side by side to form a horizontal ensemble of windows. D. Parking Structure Facade Standards 1. Facade design. Parking structure facades shall be designed to fit into the urban context in one of the two following ways: a. Facades that look similar to other Downtown buildings with designs that meet the standards of Sections 7 and 8. b. Facades designed as art walls, murals, or screens that incorporate decorative, graphic, or sculptural elements. Such facades are subject to recommendations from the Cultural Arts Commission and Historical and Landmarks Commission, followed by Director approval, based on the following Required Findings: i. Facade design theme, materials and aesthetic complement and enhance the intended unified streetscape aesthetic of Downtown, as defined by this Specific Plan. ii. Facade design is unique and iconic, using durable, element-resistant, materials and techniques. 2. Future-Proof Parking. Parking garages which can easily convert to accommodate other uses— such as offices or housing—if and when the need for parking diminishes, are encouraged. Features which enable such 'future-proof' flexibility include: a. Level floors, apart from necessary ramps; b. Floors with 10' minimum clear height from floor to ceiling; c. Cut-outs for planned shafts in decks and other structural members to accommodate future utilities (such as heating, cooling, and venting). PARKING STRUCTURE designed like a typical building with occupiable space on the sidewalk AVOID:Wide, horizontal garage openings create too large a break in the street wall. 3. Ground floor facade. Per Standard 5.3.B, structured ground floor parking must be set behind at least 30 feet of occupiable ground floor liner space. Vehicular entries are subject to the standards of Section 9.4.F. FLEXIBLE BUILDINGS like this example in downtown Los Angeles, whose upper floors once hosted a department store and offices but now serves as a parking garage. PARKING STRUCTURE designed like a typical Downtown Building, with ground floor parking set behind commercial space with shopfronts lining the street. The flat, tall parking floors of this building could easily accommodate other uses in the future. E. Materials 1. Fiberglass or plastic (false) architectural elements or ornamentations are prohibited. 2. Materials used on shopfronts should be smooth and non-abrasive to touch. 3. Rough-cast and sand-finishes are discouraged on all building surfaces that are visible from a street. 4. Where more than one material is used for the facade, the heavier material must be used below the lighter material (e.g. brick below siding, not vice versa). a. Modulations, color schemes, balconies, and other facade elements shall be consistent within an individual facade or within an individual Massing Increment, when required per Section 7.2. SHOPFRONT MATERIALS—This example uses smooth material finishes, especially at the shopfronts where the most pedestrian interactions occur. STACKING MATERIALS—Masonry used below lighter materials such as stucco, synthetic cladding, or siding. SHOPFRONT MATERIALS—A simple palette of materials across multiple storefronts does not need to feel boring as long as they are well composed. MATERIALS ON INCREMENTS—Materials and design are consistent within each Massing Increment. F. Expressing Visual Weight and Load-Bearing Structure. To ensure that new development in downtown is compatible with the historic building fabric and visual structural principles of Downtown Santa Clara, the following standards apply to the building structure, architectural elements, and materials and color: Vertical structural elements frame the bay; visual weight within the bay is transferred clearly to the ground. 1. Building Structure. To express the load-bearing structural characteristics of traditional downtown buildings, the following standards shall apply: a. Vertical Structure. The vertical structural elements of a building—comprising piers, columns, or portions of solid wall which flank each bay of the facade (see §8.2.A.2)—shall be configured so as to visually carry the apparent weight of upper floors down to the ground in a coherent manner (see precedents below). If any vertical structural element is expressed but does not extend to the ground, it shall be supported by structure beneath it, with a visual system of weight transference from the supported element to the ground. b. Horizontal Structure. Horizontal structural elements—such as beams and lintels—shall be sized to appropriately support the visual weight of the building mass and elements above them with respect to the distance they span. c. Structural Honesty. The visual system of bays and structure that is expressed on the facade shall be organized and configured to express or reinforce the actual building structure. AVOID:Heavy upper floor building masses are not coherently supported. Vertical structure elements which frame upper floor bays randomly misalign with those in the building's base. Bays of windows framed by masonry building structure Storefront windows framed by structural elements 2. Architectural Elements. To ensure that architectural elements appear to be properly supported, the following standards shall apply: a. Projections. Architectural Elements projecting from the building’s facade—i.e. balconies, bay windows, and deep roof eaves—shall be visually supported with brackets, corbels, cantilevered beams, or structure that transfers their weight to the structural vertical and horizontal elements of the facade as defined in 1a / 1b. b. Heavy Elements. Heavy elements—i.e. those made of masonry, projecting bays or rooms, etc.—shall appear to be supported rather than floating or affixed onto a weaker-appearing material. c. Non-Supportive Elements. Elements which are intended to be accents to the facade—i.e. such as spandrel panels between windows—shall not project from the facade. Rather, they shall be inset as architectural relief, with the facade material holding it in place visible around it. There shall be no floating elements or details which appear artificially pasted on. Traditional bay windows had wooden and masonry structural elements, creating a coherently-supported assembly This modern bay window has a metal structural frame supported by concrete cantilevers. 3. Materials and Color. To ensure that materials and color reinforce the visual structural logic of a facade, the following standards shall apply: a. As stated in §8.2.E.4, materials heavier in apparent weight (i.e. brick) shall be used below materials that are lighter in apparent weight (i.e. wood siding). b. Colors also suggest visual weight. Colors should complement, and in no way undermine, the visual structural logic of a facade. Balcony supported by metal tension rods. Spandrel panels are recessed into the wall between vertical structural elements. Color reinforces the role of the panels as decorative rather than strong and load-bearing.