Science and Engineering Quad, Stanford University

Providing advanced facilities for various disciplines—including electrical engineering, statistics, and advanced materials research—each building is designed to meet the individual requirements of its occupants. Although distinct in their programs, they are unified by an integrative design strategy that plays off the nineteenth-century campus plan of Frederick Law Olmsted, which provided both grassy and paved areas for relaxation, study, and socializing as well as axial connections.

The Science and Engineering Quad complements the existing campus through shared palette and scale, reinforcing the link with new bridges, walkways, and view corridors to other parts of the university. At the same time the quad possesses its own identity as a work of modern architecture.

Notwithstanding the individual attributes of the four buildings, much of the quad’s identity is derived from the innovative, freestanding arcades of steel, stone, and translucent fabric roofing that unify the various buildings and create a sense of outdoor enclosure.