The Stanford School of Medicine was looking for a new place to call home. The goal was to create a space that reflected the School of Medicine’s ethos – a cohesive balance of research, practice, and education – in an intertwined workplace. Activating the arrival and centralized hub areas was key to establishing a holistic approach for connection, learning, empowerment and purposefulness.

The project consisted of an interior tenant build-out of a 43,700 SF workspace. We focused on creating a connection between floors by expanding the central stair and creating an adjacent communal hub to drive socialization and community. The existing floorplate had restricted flow, a considerable number of dead-end corridors, insufficient lighting, low ceilings and a dated, dark palette. Creating cross-connections and balance within the updated floor plan provided spaces for privacy, flexible collaboration and a centralized gathering hub.

By maximizing daylight, the hub offers a connection to nature, an area for respite and ways for employees to feel supported, connected and engaged with other faculty and staff. Lighter finishes, warm wood tones and pops of color were used to create richness within the environment. As a focal detail within the space, the stair was reclad with light oak to give the feeling of lightness and warmth.

Nearby, smaller collaboration rooms provide areas for meeting and focus zones. The private offices are finished in a sophisticated palette, accented with black frames and views of the surrounding Palo Alto hills. The layering of conference rooms, private offices and the centralized hub reflects the culture of interdisciplinary collaboration between physicians, scientists, faculty and students.