SVRBC Fellowship Hall
A single-storey hall seating 200 for meals, with a commercial kitchen, restrooms and storage, on the open lot south-west of the existing church.
Walk around it
The model sits on its real coordinates, on Google's photogrammetry of the neighbourhood. Drag to orbit, scroll to zoom, and use the buttons for set views.
Fullscreen gives the best view. Press [ or ] to nudge the building up or down if the ground mesh sits oddly.
One hall, one service wedge
The hall takes the rectangular north portion: entry on the north, a speaking platform against the blank west wall, windows east toward the parking lot. The angled south wedge, which follows the Lakewood property line, holds the kitchen, restrooms and storage, with a pass-through opening straight into the hall.
The hall is 3,010 sf net for a reason: the 2025 California Building Code counts unconcentrated assembly seating at 15 sf per person, so 3,010 divided by 15 gives exactly 200 occupants with no argument to make. The plan shows the seating laid in — 25 banquet tables of eight, with the platform in place — so the capacity is demonstrated rather than asserted. The room is not sized larger than the code requires.
| Space | Area | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fellowship hall | 3,130 sf | 3,010 sf net → 200 occupants |
| Kitchen | 432 sf | Shell and rough-in only; above the 400 sf target |
| Corridor | 322 sf | Keeps restroom traffic off the dining floor |
| Women's restroom | 220 sf | 3 WC (1 accessible) + 2 lavatories — the code count |
| Shower / service | 190 sf | Unisex accessible shower, WC, lavatory, service sink |
| Men's restroom | 175 sf | 2 WC (1 accessible) + 2 urinals + 2 lavatories |
| Storage / mech | 178 sf | Tables, stacking chairs, fire riser |
Restrooms, and a kitchen that stays a shell
The restrooms are drawn at fixture level so the sizes can be checked rather than taken on trust: stall banks, lavatory runs and a 60 in wheelchair turning space, all at scale. Both rooms exceed the CPC minimum fixture counts for 200 occupants without being padded out — the women's room carries three water closets, which is exactly what the code requires, not four.
Trimming there made room for a unisex accessible shower room with a roll-in shower, water closet, lavatory and the service sink the code requires anyway. It is entered from the corridor, so it works during an event or independently.
The kitchen is rough-in only. Utilities are stubbed and capped and the hood shaft, make-up air path and grease interceptor are built in — the things that are far cheaper now than later — but no cooking equipment is installed. Everything dashed is future and not in contract, so the space is not a food facility under this permit and does not trigger a commercial-kitchen plan check.
A clerestory that works both ways
Two roof planes meet offset, with south-facing glass in the gap. At Sunnyvale's latitude that is close to ideal, provided the glass is shaded in summer. A 2 ft overhang over 6 ft of glazing does it: the summer sun sits too high to reach the glass, the winter sun slides underneath and washes the deepest part of the room.
Clerestory glazing in direct sun, at solar noon
Computed from true solar position at 37.395°N, 122.005°W
Free winter light and heat where the room is deepest; no summer overheating. The east windows carry the morning. The west wall stays solid, which is what you want behind a speaker and what the neighbours want facing their back yards.
Where it sits
The building occupies the open paved area where the tent stands now, set 24 ft back from the Lakewood right-of-way against a required 15 ft, and about 12 ft off the west property line shared with the neighbouring homes. The east wall stops 6.7 ft short of the existing building's east face and leaves 11 ft to the edge of the existing paving, clear of the three magnolias in the landscape strip beyond.
Three things to settle early
The overhead line almost certainly has to go underground
An overhead electric, telephone and cable span crosses the site and passes close to the north wall. Sunnyvale requires utilities associated with new development to be placed underground — explicitly including existing facilities on the premises — and puts the cost on the developer. Treat it as a condition of approval and budget it now.
SMC 19.38.090(a), 19.38.090(b)(2), 19.38.095(d), 19.38.100Fire sprinklers are mandatory, whatever the occupancy class
Whether the room is classed A-2 (banquet) or A-3 (worship-accessory) changes the state trigger but not the outcome. Sunnyvale amends the fire code to require an automatic sprinkler system throughout all new buildings over 1,000 sf. At 4,646 sf there is no version of this building without sprinklers.
SMC 16.52.903, amending CFC 903.2Parking is the one number that does not work on its face
Places of assembly park at 25 spaces per 1,000 sf of gathering area — 75 spaces for a 3,010 sf hall. The code anticipates this: it calls for a parking management plan and lets the approving body account for what is in use at the same time. The argument to make is that the hall and the sanctuary are never full at once.
SMC Table 19.46.100, "Place of assembly"Where the design sits against the limits
| Standard | Required | Designed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building height | ≤ 30 ft | 20.8 ft | clear |
| Lot coverage | ≤ 45% | ~7% | clear |
| Front yard, Lakewood | 15 ft | 24 ft | clear |
| Side yard, west | 4 ft | ~12 ft | clear |
| Allowable area, V-B sprinklered | 24,000 sf | 4,646 sf | clear |
| Exits | 2 | 4 | clear |
| Water closets (M / F) | 2 / 3 | 2 / 4 | clear |
| Parking | 75 spaces | shared | needs a plan |
What a licensed professional needs to settle
This is a design study, not permit documents. Sunnyvale will require stamped drawings from a licensed architect and engineer. These items remain open:
- Confirm A-2 versus A-3 classification with Sunnyvale Building — it moves the fixture counts, not the sprinklers.
- PG&E application for the overhead span, and its real cost.
- Parking management plan and shared-parking findings for the use permit.
- Protected-tree survey — several mature trees sit near the building envelope.
- Title 24 energy compliance for the clerestory glazing area.
- Santa Clara County Environmental Health review, if and when the kitchen is fitted out.
- Accessible route from the parking lot and CBC Chapter 11B restroom clearances.