Concrete Core Upholds Structure’s Aesthetic

The new C.J. Huang building expands Stanford University School of Medicine’s presence on the Welch Road corridor of Palo Alto. The three-story building provides space for clinical trial leaders, researchers, coordinators and practitioners. The light-filled facility allows researchers to work in a pleasing daylit setting. The building includes a full underground basement and on-grade parking for approximately 150 vehicles. Holmes provided full structural engineering services.

The structure consists of reinforced concrete construction. A 30-foot typical structural grid was adopted to maximize architectural program flexibility over all floors, including the basement. This was achieved by the use of post-tensioned flat slabs and a highly efficient reinforced concrete shear core. The concrete structure was also integrated with the building’s aesthetic, including a dramatic 3-story freestanding column at the main lobby and a 25-foot roof slab cantilever over the entry garden.

The facility follows Stanford’s own seismic engineering guidelines as a non-critical Class 3 building for medical tenants. Through careful detailing of the shear walls, the building is expected to be quickly repairable after the Design Basis Earthquake (Moment Magnitude 7.0 on the nearby San Andreas fault), and to achieve Life Safety performance at the Maximum Considered Earthquake (MW 7.9 on the San Andreas).