One of the highlights of the meeting was that plans for Denning House, the new home of the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program, are moving forward after the Stanford Board of Trustees gave concept and site approval, according to Stanford News. The two-story building will house the program’s administrative staff as well as meeting and dining spaces for the international graduate students admitted to the program. It will also feature multipurpose lecture spaces and discussion rooms. The 20,000-square-foot facility will be funded by a donation from trustee Chair Steven Denning and wife Roberta.

Other construction projects discussed in the meeting included the 2,400-bed graduate housing complex in Escondido Village, which is expected to break ground next year. The first units in the new faculty housing development at University Terrace are also expected to open within the upcoming school year.

Additionally, the board gave construction approval for the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Biology Research Building, which will provide laboratory research space for roughly half of the department’s faculty, staff and technicians. The four-story building is scheduled for completion in late 2018.

Board members further approved the Kingscote Gardens renovation, which will convert former apartments into space for student support programs such as counseling, diversity and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance. Construction includes remodeling the 99-year-old building by 2017.

Lastly, the board approved the renovation of the Schwab Residential Center, which houses graduate business students. The renovation will include upgrading kitchens and bathrooms, and will be completed in September 2017.
 

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The project, known as LCLS-II, will add a second X-ray laser beam to LCLS that is 10,000 times brighter, on average, than the first and fires 8,000 times faster (up to a million pulses per second.) The project will increase the power and capacity of the LCLS for experiments to provide more in-depth view of how nature works on the atomic level and on ultrafast timescales, according to a statement.

SLAC is a multi-program laboratory that explores photon science, astrophysics, particle physics and accelerator research, and is operated by Stanford University for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science. To make this major upgrade a reality, SLAC teamed up with four other national labs — Argonne, Berkeley Lab, Fermilab and Jefferson Lab — and Cornell University, each of which will make key contributions to project planning as well as to component design, acquisition and construction.

“LCLS-II will take X-ray science to the next level, opening the door to a whole new range of studies of the ultrafast and ultrasmall,” said LCLS Director Mike Dunne in a statement. “This will tremendously advance our ability to develop transformative technologies of the future, including novel electronics, life-saving drugs and innovative energy solutions.”

When it debuted six years ago, LCLS was the first light source of its kind, with an X-ray microscope that uses the brightest and fasted X-ray pulses ever made to provide unknown details of the atomic world. Scientists use it each year to study fundamental process in nature. For instance, it helps capture molecular video to reveal how chemical bonds form and break; ultrafast snapshots that show electric charges as they rearrange in materials and change properties; and 3-D images of disease-related proteins that show atomic-level details that could help with medical research.

The new X-ray laser will work together with the existing one — each of which will occupy one-third of SLAC’s 2-mile long linear accelerator tunnel. They will work together to allow researchers to make observations over a wider energy range, capturing even more detailed snapshots of rapid processes.

“The upgrade will benefit X-ray experiments in many different ways, and I’m very excited to use the new capabilities for my own research,” said Brown University Professor Peter Weber, who co-led an LCLS study that used X-ray scattering to track ultrafast structural changes as ring-shaped gas molecules burst open in a chemical reaction vital to many processes in nature, in a statement. “With LCLS-II, we’ll be able to bring the motions of atoms much more into focus, which will help us better understand the dynamics of crucial chemical reactions.”

The $1 billion project is being funded by the Office of Science and is scheduled to begin operations in the early 2020s. Until then, LCLS will continue to serve the X-ray science community, except for a six-month time period in 2017 and a 12-month time period from 2018 to 2019 due to construction.
 

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Spanning 4,000 square feet, the one-story Windhover Contemplative Center was inspired by the work of renowned artist Nathan Oliveira, whose Windhover series included both small drawings and massive oil paintings. The Aidlin Darling Design team also partnered with Andrea Cochran Landscape Architect of San Francisco “to create a space where art, landscape and architecture come together to replenish and invigorate the spirit,” according to a statement by the firm.

Equal parts spiritual sanctuary, art gallery and contemplative garden, the center has become a showcase piece for the university, and creates a peaceful island in the heart of the campus.

“In a world culture that focuses on speed and instantaneous access, Stanford has gifted their students and faculty a place to re-center themselves and find balance in their lives,” said Joshua Aidlin, founding partner of Aidlin Darling Design, in a statement. “There isn’t a person in the world that wouldn’t benefit from taking time each day to focus on true contemplation. The creation of a non-denominational space inspired by art and nature to practice mindfulness is rare. This new program type could be a paradigm shift for campuses and institutions around the country."

Visitors enter the center via a long, private garden buffered from the rest of the campus by soaring bamboo. Rammed earth walls, dark wood and plenty of natural light characterize the building’s inner spaces, which provide both views of the surrounding oak grove as well as an opportunity to sit and reflect on several of Oliveira’s sprawling works. Skylights serve as the building’s primary light source, and the space is scattered with comfortable cushions and benches where visitors can rest and reflect.

Designers strategically used water throughout the building and grounds as a meditation aid. There are fountains both indoors and out, and a reflecting pool and garden on the center’s southern side provide a peaceful mirror image of the surrounding vegetation, strengthening the building’s connection to nature.

These courtyards, coupled with the expansive glass wall to the east, allow visitors to view the paintings without accessing the building, effectively creating a sanctuary for the Stanford community day and night, according to a statement by Aidlin Darling.

“Working closely with Aidlin Darling Design from the outset, we envisioned the building and landscape as fully integrated,” said Andrea Cochran, principal of Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture, in a statement. “This holistic approach shaped nearly every aspect of the design, from the carefully choreographed entry sequence; to the visual and physical permeability between the architecture and the landscape; to the interplay between the building materials, light, and shadow. By blurring the boundaries between inside and outside, the center provides a spiritual refuge and a rich new way to experience art and nature.”

Though the Windhover Contemplative Center primarily serves members of the Stanford University campus, the building is also open to the general public once a week during a docent-led tour.

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According to an interview with The Stanford Daily, Executive Director of Arts Programs Matthew Tiews, overwhelming student interest inspired the school to begin planning new and improved practice spaces. Tiews said, “There was a real desire for a drop-in creative space where students could come, just swipe their ID, get in and have a space to make work, rehearse and perform in.”

In the fall of 2012, the university newspaper ran a story highlighting the many difficulties students encountered in finding viable practice space. At the time, Scott Kepley, technical services director for the university’s music department, said, “[We have] so many different groups that want to use our spaces that we have to give [music department] students the first crack. Then, we try to open it up to the broader student group on campus.”

Paula Salazar is the Stanford Arts Institute’s arts in student life coordinator, and recognizes that many students who aren’t necessarily affiliated with the school’s various arts programs often encounter the most difficulty in accessing rehearsal space. “We definitely understand that there is a lack of arts spaces on campus, and it’s one of our biggest priorities,” Salazar said. “Art will still be a part of their lives and will continue to enrich their experience.”

Though the project is still in the design phase, and is not scheduled for completion until the fall of 2015, it will be the fourth project dedicated to the arts in recent years. The $30.5 million Anderson Collection, which is being billed as one of the world’s most impressive private assemblies of modern and contemporary modern American art, will open in 2014. Meanwhile the $85 million McMurtry Building, which also aims for a 2015 opening, will soon be home to the university’s Department of Art and Art History. They will join the equally impressive Bing Concert Hall, which has been hosting concerts and special events since January 2013. These investments in the school’s arts program have helped diversify the university, which is widely recognized as a leader in the sciences.

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Designed by Richard Olcott of New York-based Ennead Architects and constructed by Turner Construction Company, headquartered in New York City, the 112,365-square-foot $122 million vineyard style concert hall includes state-of-the-art acoustic design by internationally renowned acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota.

“Good acoustics in a concert hall serves to enhance the audience’s experience
by making it easier to understand the performance they are enjoying,” Toyota said. “When the sound is rich and clear, we can fully understand the musicians and composer’s intent for our enjoyment.”

Music and acoustics are inseparable, Toyota said, and if the both music and acoustics are not appealing audiences can easily become distracted.

The room shape itself and the materials have the greatest influence on the acoustical design of a concert hall,” Yasuhisa said.

Yasuhisa and Olcott worked closely in order to produce the most effective design to utilize acoustics.

“The Bing Concert Hall exemplifies the seamless exemplifies the seamless integration of architecture, acoustics and technology with the goal of transforming the practice study and experience of the performing arts at Stanford,” Olcott said in a statement.

Double curved ceiling reflectors 48 feet above the stage housing the state-of-the-art technical lighting, rigging and sounds support equipment.

The Stanford Arts Initiative, the driving force in bringing a new concert hall to the Stanford campus, wished for a kind of versatility that would pay homage to the wide variety of musical artists on campus.

“In addition to achieving acoustical excellence, the client’s objectives for the design of Bing Concert Hall recognized the changing nature of classical music performance,” said theatre planner and designing firm Fischer Dasch and Associates in a statement. “Contemporary classical soloists, orchestras, and chamber groups are increasingly experimenting with visual media, lighting, and movement, and the hall has been carefully designed to facilitate these more theatrical types of musical presentations.”

Stanford Lively Arts Executive and Artistic Director Jenny Bilfield said Bing Hall has brought connectivity and flexibility to artists and the audience. While the acoustics and design welcome both acoustic and amplified sounds, the vineyard style seating allows a more accessible musical experience. For concert attendees

“My favorite part is that it’s designed with a social quality and human quality for the audience in attendance,” Bilfield said. “We wanted the audience to be able to hear the grittiness or striking tone of the bow hitting the violin and the artist a range of expressivity that will be heard.”

From any seat in the concert hall concert goers will be able to experience the same high quality sound while being in sight line of the performance and other audience members.

“The vineyard style configuration, whose terraced seating sections ring the stage, creates an intimate concert experience, a warm and rich environment for audience and performers,” Olcott said in a statement. “Each seating section has a unique and intimate feel, particularly the center-section seating, which begins at the same level of the stage.”

Despite the price of your ticket, Bilfield said, the structure of seating allows each audience member to feel a part of the artistic community.

“You see people, you see students, you see people of all ages,” Bilfield said. “There’s an active awareness of your placement in the experience.”

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