VMware’s corporate campus, designed by William McDonough + Partners with Form4 as architect of record, is a special place, and it’s part of a larger special place, the Stanford Research Park, that is a unique economic engine. Fast Company magazine notes that the Park will be 60 next year, and uses the occasion to peek into what has made this such a vibrant, thriving center for innovation.
Here’s an excerpt:
Just after World War II, Stanford University was struggling financially. It was land-rich but cash-poor, so its leaders had an idea: How about we create a new income source by using some of the land for industry?
The Stanford Research Park, as it’s now known, was the first of its kind in America. Today, the 700-acre spread has 10 million square feet of commercial real estate that generates millions of dollars for the university each year. It’s home to iconic tech brands such as Hewlett-Packard, one of the first tenants, and the banks, consultants, restaurants, and law firms that serve them. According to Mark Kindred, a Palo Alto-based senior research analyst at the commercial real estate firm Jones Lang Lasalle, “It’s the epicenter of Silicon Valley.”