Challenge
Syntex Corporation wanted an interim facility in Palo Alto that would
serve its needs until it could design and build permanent quarters on
the site. The company needed laboratories, offices, a cafeteria, and a
conference/training center.
Solution
Making innovative use of simple and affordable components, the architects
designed a practical and aesthetically appealing complex of four building
clusters that could be disassembled, moved, and reused if necessary.
The building clusters, consisting of four to five modules each, provided
a total of 23,000 square feet—enough to house all the required
facilities. To create the buildings, the designers modified factory-manufactured
portable classrooms (trailers with wheels) to meet the aesthetic and
environmental standards of the Stanford Industrial Park setting. The
trailers, 10 feet wide by 32 or 60 feet long, were hauled from a Southern
California factory to the site and hoisted by crane onto previously
constructed footings.
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