Understanding
Stanford University
Since 1998, with the opening of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts, we’ve designed a total on seven projects on the Stanford campus. Each project blends seamlessly with the distinctive architectural identity of the campus, revitalizing its surroundings through collaborative design and management.
Respecting the original plan developed by Frederick Law Olmsted, we have distilled the organizing and formal principles of the historic campus and interpreted them in contemporary ways.
Our architecture for Stanford seamlessly blends indoor and outdoor spaces, creating a fluid and open environment at every scale.
Stanford’s campus is unique, consists of two distinct typologies: architecture and landscape—man-made and natural. Our buildings respond to and harmonize with this dynamic environment in innovative, modern ways.
We’ve thoughtfully combined the Spanish Mission and Romanesque architectural styles with the formal, axial progression of gates, courtyards, colonnades, trellises, and the surrounding landscape, treating each as integral to the other.
Open spaces, indoors and out, along with natural light and air, guided much of our design work at Stanford. By incorporating porches, large windows, and double-height spaces, we invite the outside in, making the most of the local climate.
A unifying architectural language was established to create individual iconic moments and a cohesive urban garden identity for the development as a whole.
Bing Concert Hall
Serving as the new “front door” to the campus, Bing heralds the beginning of an even more comprehensive Stanford vision: the launch of an arts district. An expansive lobby and surrounding colonnade create flexible indoor and outdoor spaces for contemplation.