INNOVATIVE PROJECT COMPLETED FOR NEW STANFORD INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC POLICY RESEARCH

MENLO PARK, CA, Apr. 23, 2010 – The recently opened, three-story 39,000 square-foot John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Building, which houses the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), has been completed. Ken Kornberg, president and founder of Kornberg Associates I Architects (www.kornberg.com), made the announcement. The firm, which served as executive architect for the project (Kornberg Associates I Architects partnered with Ike Kligerman Barkley Architects), has worked with Stanford University since 1980 and has completed 20 projects over the past 30 years.

SIEPR is a nonpartisan economic policy research organization. Researchers at SIEPR study a variety of global economic policy-oriented issues and also advise and influence policymakers worldwide.

Staff is currently moving into the new facility. The building is meant to evoke Stanford’s traditional Romanesque quadrangles and the campus’ many early 20th Century Bakewell & Brown buildings.

“The new facility not only provides flexibility for future growth, but provides quiet, comfortable workspaces for teaching and research,” said Kornberg. “The conference rooms have also been designed to provide excellent acoustics for high speech clarity.”

Kornberg added that another project goal was to foster inter-departmental interaction and support existing functions, particularly group functions that previously had inadequate space.

The building’s front, noted Kornberg, is reminiscent of the original Memorial Arch, the entrance to the Main Quadrangle that was destroyed during the 1906 earthquake. A large, formal courtyard links the new building with an older facility next door and provides overflow for the main conference room and a venue for dinners and outdoor speakers. Porticos lead to the building’s courtyard entrance in a glazed glass connector (interior walls of offices are also glazed, which allows for natural lighting). The lobby’s most striking feature is a three-story circular stair.

Kornberg Associates I Architects (www.kornberg.com), established in 1979, is the world’s oldest, independent lab/research design firm. The company provides a full range of architectural services and has completed more than 500 projects worldwide.

These have included pharmaceutical and biomedical research labs, clinical care facilities, medical centers, office/administrative buildings, conference centers and schools. Project scale ranges from tenant improvement/renovation to complete buildings and campuses. Offices are located in Menlo Park and San Diego, CA; and Tokyo.

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