Pacific Collegiate School, Santa Cruz, CA

Pacific Collegiate is a middle and high school with a bold vision for education that has been long overdue for a new space to reflect its enthusiastic students and faculty.  Stripe collaborated with Studio Bondy Arcitects layering in color and textures with floor finishes, fixtures and and furniture. The space on the West Side of Santa Cruz has an energizing palette, taken from an ocean hued Diebenkorn painting that echoes the tones of the buildings natural environment.  The palette was infused throughout, with touches of green and blue surrounding classroom doorways and orange and gray chairs scattered across public spaces and classrooms. The Diebenkorn painting is referenced in abstraction as the signage background for classroom doors.

For the teacher's lounge, the brief was to create a sanctuary for the staff.   The space was intentionally designed in stark comparison to the fresh, modern canvas of the rest of the school campus.  A scholarly parlor was designed, replete with crackling (faux) fire, bookcase wallpaper, and a playful nod to Hogwart's with gallery wall featuring faculty and staff photographed in disguise and framed in gold gilded frames.

This new school campus will serve the growing PCS community well and excite students and staff for years to come. 

Photo Credit: Eric Ressler

Design Process: 

PCS began with a collaboration with the Architect's, synthesizing their vision with the vision that PCS wanted for their new space. Starting out with visual research on how the school would look and function, we created mood boards to guide the process. We knew we wanted the school to have an energizing feeling, a place where the students would be excited to learn and collaborate.