Stanford Town Center

Re-envisioning the heart of the university campus for social connectedness

Sector

Civic & Public

Region

North America

Timespan

2019

White Fountain is the epicenter for Stanford student life, hijinx, protest and celebration. Credit: Stanford University

Stanford University’s White Plaza is the center of student life, but it was designed around a 1960s idea of what that life would be like. Gehl developed a new vision from more than 800 community ideas, imagining a space for engagement, vibrant daily life, and intellectual vitality in the 21st Century.

Vibrant daily life. There’s a bustling level of activity at most hours of the day, week and year. It’s the place to run into someone you know or meet someone new. Credit: Gehl

Design principles provided guidance for the design process, ensuring the spatial qualities of buildings and the public realm support, a unified vision that's focused on people, vibrant public life, and intellectual vitality. Credit: Gehl

Intellectual vitality thrives in spaces made for people

Synthesizing more than 800 ideas from 58 multi-party interviews, 8 committee meetings, 15 focus groups, a dozen white papers and numerous expert recommendations, Gehl provided Stanford University with a blueprint for the social life and experience of a space yet to be: the Town Center — an expression of Stanford’s intellectual vitality, the heart of culture and engagement on campus and a place for vibrant daily life.

Drawing on design and cultural precedents from around the world, the Town Center would contain communal dining, meeting spaces for student groups, informal places for mentorship and learning, spaces for protest, podcasting studios, and a bohemian coffee house — just to name a few of the concepts in the collaborative vision led by Gehl. Beyond the imaginative possibilities, the vision addressed urgent campus issues like belonging, mental health, hybrid digital presence, inclusion and representation. Based on Gehl’s vision for the Town Center, detailed architectural design commenced in 2020.

Gehl and campus architects discuss precedents from around the world to inspire the new vision for Stanford’s Town Center. Credit: Blaine Merker.

Blaine Merker, Senior Project Director, Head of Climate, Partner A. Ghigo DiTommaso, Team Director, San Francisco, Partner Anna Muessig, Senior Project Director, Partner

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