3215 Porter – The Hub

Project Location:  Palo Alto, CA

Client:  STUDIOS Architecture

Description: 

This centrally located site was envisioned as an open and welcoming hub that would generate a pedestrian and bike friendly community at the core of the Stanford Research Park. On site food service, bike shop, and flex-use spaces create a destination for the research park community.

The Landscape design for the site embraces an indoor/outdoor relationship between plaza spaces wrapping the building and ground floor food service. Built-in terraced seating and stepped approach from the Porter Drive frontage gracefully integrate the plaza areas with the site and provide comfortable flexible seating for casual daily use, or larger hosted events. Outdoor meeting rooms extend from the dining plaza and offer more intimate gathering spaces for small groups and are shaded by architectural trellises that accentuate the building material palette. Abundant bike parking is included throughout the site to support the project’s goal of reducing car trips.

Planting design for the project creates a native and drought tolerant landscape which supports Palo Alto and Stanford’s goals of encouraging habitat throughout the research park.