Sonoma Academy

Sonoma Academy’s Guild & Commons is a two-story building which seamlessly stretches the views on the second level and blends into the land at the first.  It houses maker/digital classrooms, productive gardens, offices and a full dining/kitchen.  Guiding principles of equity, community, and exploration inspired the choice of sustainable materials, screens, automated shades, and deep overhangs.  Design of the living roof includes photovoltaics, tiered planters that filter greywater and stormwater for reuse, and an environment that attracts pollinators.

Sustainable materials used in the project include reclaimed beams, exterior and interior siding, exposed mass timber roof eaves, and regionally sourced low-carbon block.  Exposed rammed earth walls incorporate local low-cement concrete and Watershed Materials, the first in the county.  Advanced modeling (FEA) is used to find an optimized design of exterior walkways with integrated thermal breaks in the exposed steel connections to reduce thermal bridging, and improve the building’s energy performance, as well as its vibration performance.

This project was the first to achieve both Zero Carbon and Petal Certifications from the Living Building Challenge, as well as the first building in California to receive Zero Carbon Certification.

• Living Building Challenge Petal and Zero Carbon Certified
• Net Zero Energy Efficient
• LEED Platinum certified