Verdant Sanctuary

Client: Sand Hill Property Company

Verdant Sanctuary 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 these forms that pulls you along, giving you the feeling of an organic whole.

Located in Stanford Research Park, the epicenter of technological change, it neighbors 607 Han-sen Way, an Eric Mendelsohn designed building which was the original research and develop-ment 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 vol-umes create a lively building envelope. 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 bene-ficial solar heat gain. The building will be all-electric with PV panels for sustainable energy har-vest 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 har-monizes 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.