The Center for Academic Medicine at Stanford University is a refuge of respite and rejuvenation for the School of Medicine’s clinical educators and staff. Fondly called the “Treehouse at Stanford”, the Center was designed to address physician burnout and to enhance health and well-being, establishing a restorative workplace away from the hectic patient care environment that enables clinicians to focus on their academic research endeavors, supports creative scientific thought, and ultimately improves overall patient outcomes.
Nestled in the southwest corner of the university’s 19th-century, Frederick Law Olmsted-designed arboretum, the Center promotes interaction between occupants and the natural environment. Rising four stories tall, the 170,000-square-foot building is comprised of three office wings enveloping a central courtyard.
Lifting the west wing two stories above the ground draws the arboretum under and through the structure, forming a large two-story porch below. Stanford’s community can socialize and collaborate in a diverse mix of outdoor spaces that are directly connected to nature. Porches, balconies, and covered walkways extend from the building. Upper terraces create the sensation of being in the trees. By expanding the arboretum into the project site, the Center is essentially inside the arboretum itself.
The ground level was designed as public open space and features a host of amenities, including a fitness center, café, a conferencing center, and generous outdoor seating. These diverse spaces are tuned to provide comfort: breeze and shade in the summer; calm and direct sunlight in the winter. A permeable landscaped courtyard seamlessly connects both the university and public community to the arboretum’s walking trails. Like a modern-day Janus Gate, the outdoor porch acts as a social hub and portal linking the arboretum to Stanford Medicine’s hospitals and School of Medicine.
Through a “passive solution first” philosophy, the Center was tailored to take full advantage of the site – from planning decisions driven by sun, wind, and ecosystem to the building details. The optimized façade responds to differing environmental conditions on each face, meeting specific solar heat gain targets while optimizing comfort and daylight. Integrated systems are connected to a central plant enabling hydronic provision of cooling and heat recovery for increased efficiency. The Center’s reduced Energy Use Intensity (28.67 kBtu/sf/yr) enables a net-zero ready building, which is further offset by an off-site solar array, supplying 41 percent renewable energy. The campus is slated to achieve 100 percent renewable electricity by 2023, enabling the Center to achieve net-zero energy.
The Center takes advantage of its Mediterranean climate and the adjacent nature preserve, inspiring the design for the campus to act as an extension of the arboretum experience. Twenty percent of the building program and major circulation were expanded outdoors, bringing occupants in direct contact with nature. These diverse spaces are tuned to provide comfort, allowing occupants to collaborate and continue their medical research in a safe, naturally ventilated outdoor environment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Internally, the workplace optimizes the health and well-being of occupants. The narrow office wings grant 90 percent of occupied spaces plentiful access to daylight and views, adjacent trees, and bird sounds. Occupants are no more than 30 feet from a window and have direct control of lighting and temperature levels. The colors, textures, and patterns of the arboretum’s landscape have been abstracted to form a biophilic palette for the interior that features natural materials and finishes. Hospitality elements and amenities such as a ground floor café, fitness center and a conferencing center, and generous outdoor seating add to the Center’s rejuvenating qualities.
Overall, the Center is a contemporary workplace that promotes interaction between medical specialists and the outdoor environment.