Palo Alto, California, USA
Verdant Sanctuary designed by Form4 Architecture expresses its embrace of nature through each design element: its natural setting, its choice of material—it is almost entirely made of wood and glass, its dramatic roof design that echoes the shape of a bird’s wings. There is a dynamic flow to this form that pulls you along, giving you a feeling of the organic whole.
For its ecological design, the project was awarded with a 2021 Green Good Design® Award by The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum.
Located in Stanford Research Park, the epicenter of technological change, it neighbors 607 Hansen Way, an Eric Mendelsohn-designed building, which was the original research and development building that started Silicon Valley.
The two-story, 52,872 square-foot office/R&D space emphasizes horizontality through its various roof scales and levels.
Projecting and receding volumes create a lively building envelope rather than a static flat facade.
A generously scaled main entrance canopy is supported by structural elements that feature mass timber.
Utilizing passive sustainability strategies, the design uses large roof overhangs to shade the glass in the summer and in the winter, when the sun is low, the large glass areas provide beneficial solar heat gain.
The building will be all-electric with PV panels for sustainable energy harvest and will feature a green roof as natural insulation.
This oasis is a pastoral break in a canyon of structures built on zero lot lines along the El Camino Real.
The California xeriscape provides a buffer between the building and the street and harmonizes with surrounding buildings.
Glass walls are so clear and unobstructed that the roofs seem to float, and nature surrounds you, providing a warm welcome and a place for creativity.
Architects: Form4 Architecture
Client: Sand Hill Property Company
Photographers: Form4 Architecture / Teapot Collective
