Located at the edge of the historic Olmsted-designed Stanford campus and the surrounding residential neighborhood, this new building unifies the academic law complex with the newer law school residential buildings to the east. A monumental rotunda located at the intersection of two significant circulation paths serves as a prominent entry point to the new academic building and defines the new center of the law school. A shaded garden terrace, elevated above the ground floor law clinic and framed by the stone walls of the faculty office bars, comprises the heart of the building. Within the building, bridges between office suites and double-height communal spaces foster a larger sense of community between faculty and students and offer expansive views of the landscape beyond. The materials palette, inspired by the surrounding campus context, includes terra cotta, stone, stucco, concrete and wood.
The design draws from traditional sustainable approaches, including thick masonry walls for passive solar heating and cooling, overhangs and deeply recessed windows to reduce solar heat gain while maximizing daylight and operable windows for natural ventilation. These measures combine with contemporary energy efficiency, building envelope design and water management techniques to create a building is emblematic of the campus commitment to sustainability.
