gilbert-hall-stanford-university: Gilbert Hall, Stanford University, Biological Sciences, Palo Alto, California, USA
Designed 1985 with Francisco Kripacz
Associated firm- McLellan and Copenhagen Inc.
This project, located in the northwest section of the Stanford campus, accommodates research labs and teaching facilities for the Biological Sciences Department with a particular emphasis on molecular biology research.
The building had to comply with the Stanford style yet be conceived in a way that was fresh and contemporary in accordance with its research use. Even though there are only three laboratory floors and the ground floor administrative floor, the extra interstitial service floor above each laboratory floor resulted in a seven storey building. In order to harmonize with two existing buildings to read as a cluster, methods were used to reduce the apparent height, and bring it into a sympathetic scale with the other buildings. For example the windows of the interstitial levels were recessed while on the laboratory levels the windows are bowed out. The roofline encloses the attic of the upper interstitial space, and has a glass eyebrow to make it seem lower.
Photo by Geoffrey Erickson
