Adobe Founders Tower

The Adobe Founders Tower project is the tech software giant’s latest addition to its San Jose, California headquarters. This 18-story office tower is projected to hold up to 4,000 employees and will yield 1.3 million sq ft, with 690,330 sq ft for R+D offices with 2,700 sq ft of retail, and 563,000 sq ft for the on-site parking of 1,181 vehicles and 147 bicycles. When completed, the North Tower will connect to Adobe’s existing campus via a pedestrian skybridge extending over San Fernando Street.

Kier + Wright’s civil and survey scope for this high-rise development included grading utility, storm water design and frontage improvements on the four-story below grade basement located on West San Fernando. K+W also produced an original topographic survey, parcel map, overhead encroachment permits and a plat and legal for city records.

Because the site is situated in a condensed area, there wasn’t a lot of room to perform construction staking due to the tight location. K+W conquered this challenge by installing Optical Survey Prisms along the neighboring buildings. These prisms reflect the infrared beam back to its source with both a wide angle of incidence and with high precision. Prisms reduce the scatter of the beam as it is reflected back to the total which allows for both a more accurate measurement and a longer range that the measurement can be made.

Another unique aspect of this project includes the skybridge that features concrete pavers and wood seating areas alongside plantings of native grasses. K+W provided a comprehensive utility survey to locate and help place four bridge columns that’re within the existing Adobe loading dock so they wouldn’t interfere with any existing utilities. This unique survey of the skybridge presented a challenge because of its proximity to the San Jose International Airport and its surrounding flight path. K+W worked with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to design elevations according to their height requirements to ensure the skybridge height didn’t impact the flight path or surrounding Airport restrictions.

The Adobe Founders Tower project is spearheading the way for sustainable innovation and will play an integral part in helping Adobe’s commitment to power their operations with 100 percent renewable energy by 2035.