Nestled within the Stanford Research Park, the new home for Arc Institute converted a spec-built office building into a warm and welcoming environment, filled with natural light and connected to nature. At the heart of the design is the goal to support and facilitate the curiosity-based approach to research and the interdisciplinary collaboration that is foundational to their mission.

Designed to accommodate autonomous and cross-disciplinary research programs, the building provides highly flexible, state-of-the-art laboratory and breakout spaces in an inspiring, human-centric setting. The program includes over 58,000 SF of ‘wet lab’ research space along with ‘dry’ research labs, offices, and meeting spaces to complement bench research. Supporting these lab spaces, a welcoming lobby and new garden terrace is provided along with a new public café to foster and encourage collaboration and promote staff well-being.

Commensurate with Arc’s goal of accelerating groundbreaking research, the facility was built within a fast-tracked 18-month schedule from start of design through operation. Critical to the project’s successful completion was a seamless collaborative effort between the client, design and construction team. This accelerated timeline for this technically complex program to convert the existing building to lab use, led to multiple phases occurring in tandem. Constant engagement and meticulous coordination amongst the entire project team was essential to achieving a 21st century science research center of the highest caliber.

Founded in 2022, The Arc Institute is a nonprofit research organization founded on the belief that many important scientific programs can be enabled by new organizational models. Arc operates in partnership with Stanford University, UCSF, and UC Berkeley. Arc gives scientists no-strings attached, multi-year funding, so that they don’t have to apply for external grants and invests in the rapid development of experimental and computational technological tools.