••• “Smart Banking” San Francisco, Burlingame, San Mateo 2002-current Challenge What can a private bank do to separate itself from the pack and attract new clientele without a major capital campaign? Wealth-management firm Borel Private Bank & Trust Company, aiming to enhance its brand and attract new clientele, engaged MKThink to design its Northern California
••• San Francisco, CA 2008 San Francisco has a new icon thanks to the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and the National Park Service. Project FROG’s latest smart building is located on the beautiful San Francisco waterfront at Crissy Field’s East Beach. The new interim home for Crissy Field Center demonstrates model practices in sustainability
•••• 2006 Challenge MKThink Strategy is well known for its research on topics relevant to today’s leaders and administrators in the field of education. In 2006, the team observed a trend in student housing on college campuses: they noted an exponential increase in construction cost per bed, fueled by an increase in individual space
••••••• “Imagine a place where schools, community services, arts and recreation programs are integrated to serve the entire Emeryville community” Emeryville, CA Completion: 2015 Challenge To transform a community so that the school becomes the center of the community and the community becomes the center of the school. Approach Community must be at the heart
••••••• San Francisco, CA 2011 – present Challenge In the late 1990′s, Golden Gate University began the process of establishing a multi-year institutional master plan. Having completed the first phases, MKThink was brought on in 2011 to realign the master planning effort to the university’s current needs and goals. The analysis included an investigation of
•••• Honolulu, HI 2008 – present Challenge The State of Hawaii’s Department of Education (DOE) is facing a crisis: deteriorating facilities and limited budgets contribute to poor academic performance and retention rates. The DOE hired MKThink to transform this crisis into an opportunity through three-dimensional analysis of users, architecture, and the environment. Approach First, the
••••• “Pole Position” Infineon Raceway Sonoma, CA 2007 Challenge Infineon Raceway is a stark departure from the otherwise calm serenity of Sonoma’s rolling landscape. Here it’s about speed, racing and being loud. It’s about metal and machine. Testosterone and technology. An odd combination of adrenaline and octane where humans and their machines push each other
••••• Challenge Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LPCH) is a 220,000 net square foot facility costing $2.6 million per day to operate, based on the database’s baseline snapshot report. Given perceived constraints on hospital resources, the administration believed the hospital needed to build more capacity; however, the additional space needs exceeded Palo Alto’s building restrictions by
••••• “Restoring a Neighborhood Treasure” San Francisco, CA 2008 Challenge How can you secure the economic viability of the highly-desirable small neighborhood theater in today’s milieu of big chain multiplexes? Changing market dynamics have forced single-screen cinemas to evolve in order to survive, both as successful enterprises and neighborhood amenities. While the original 1928-built
••• Kayak House and Maintenance Pavilion San Francisco, CA 2008 Challenge What can a city do with the odd, neglected space under a freeway? In San Francisco where an abandoned three-acre parcel occupies space below several freeway off-ramps, the answer is Mission Creek Sports Park. It is a “whimsical yet functional community destination”, reports San
••••• An “independently spirited, fiercely unconventional” client deserves a work environment that matches this corporate ethos. So that’s exactly what we did. Multiple Locations 2009 – Mountain View, CA 2011 – San Francisco, CA Challenge How do you transform generic office space into a creative, collaborative work environment that celebrates Mozilla’s unique culture, attracts and
••••• Oakland, CA 2009 – present Challenge Emerging from State Receivership in 2009, many of Oakland Unified School District’s (OUSD) 95 sites and 108 schools were significantly under capacity. Some properties were decaying, and the quality of education was inequitable. To improve enrollment, student performance, and graduation rates, OUSD needed support. Approach The MKThink team
••••• How do you make children feel at home even when they’re at school? Simple. You make the school feel like home. Los Altos, CA 2009 Challenges Difficult site, sensitive neighborhood, heritage trees and, oh yes, a school that needed to maintain operations during construction. Approach Working closely with teachers, parents and neighbors, MKThink designed
••••••• MKThink founded and launched Project Frog in 2006, now a successful green tech company that has reinvented pre-engineered buildings to be smart, healthy, green and affordable. The initiative that led us to create this company arose from the painful observation that schoolyards have become trailer parks for the most part and we just couldn’t
•••• “Artful Interiors” Menlo Park, CA 2005 [ Core & Shell ] 2006 [ Tenant Spaces ] Challenge How do you boost tenant occupancy and lease rates in a highly competitive market? Although Sand Hill Road is recognized as one of the most prestigious venture capital addresses in the nation, our client was finding it
•••••• Santa Clara, CA 2004-present Challenge This Silicon Valley institution wanted to realign several aging facilities with its forward-looking mission and ensure that its campus facility strategy dovetailed with existing academic, residential and athletic plans. Having struggled through planning processes in the past, the campus planning administrators were ready for an integrated process that ensured
•• ”Their desired program is bound to exceed the space allocated by the university which is why it’s crucial to agree on overarching goals to ensure the needs of the department as a whole are met.” – E. Chloe Laur Stanford, CA 2009 Challenge In 2009, the Stanford University Art & Art History Department found
••• When hundreds of valued Stanford University employees learn that they will no longer be working on the main campus due to lack of available space, that has the potential to be a bit upsetting. We had better make their new campus a superior work environment. Stanford at Porter Drive Stanford Research Park, Palo Alto,
•••• Hasso Plattner Institute of Design Stanford University, CA 2010 Architect: Cody Anderson Wasney Interior Architect: MKThink Challenge What does it take to house three of Stanford University’s premier design-thinking groups— the Institute of Design (d.school), the Design Group, the Center for Design Research— in world-class interdisciplinary design center? Start with full cultural emersion,
•• Stanford, CA Challenge With competitive pressures from peer institutions investing in new buildings coupled with an aging infrastructure inconsistent with current pedagogies, the Graduate School of Business desired a growth strategy organized around its unique strengths and assets. As a premier business school focused on entrepreneurial thinking and individualized development, the school sought to
•• “Promoting Excellence in Law and Learning” William H. Neukom Building Stanford, CA 2011 Architect: Ennead Architects Associate Architect: MKThink Challenge How can a building help a school reinforce its identity and produce lawyers prepared to address today’s multi-disciplinarian problems? Stanford Law School’s long-standing dedication to excellence in legal education has consistently earned it
•••• Mid-century concrete structures are generally not considered to be the most flexible buildings on the planet. We don’t let that stand in our way. Robert Crown Law Library, Classrooms, Moot Court Stanford University, CA 2007 Challenge How does one transform a dated 1970’s concrete structure into a state-of-the-art research, instructional and clinic facility? How
• • • • 2008 – present Challenge A national organization with worldwide reach, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has a clear mission: to protect nature, for people today and future generations. Their diverse staff of over 550 scientists is spread throughout 50 states and 33 countries and works on countless initiatives. Within this grand organization,
••••• “Upgrading Education” San Francisco, CA In Progress Challenge How can an independent school optimize its physical environment as a tool to help educate for the 21st century? As the instructional tools of education advance and adapt to incorporate new technology and teaching & learning methods, the physical environment needs to modernize accordingly. Town School
•••• San Francisco, CA 2002-2004 Challenge In 2002, USF wanted to accommodate growth, hire new faculty, and upgrade the quality of teaching environments to elevate its overall reputation. The university planned to build 20,000 GSF of new facilities with a price tag of nearly $60 million. However, the school lacked the necessary funds. Approach The
••• “A Green Performance” Performing Arts Center Portola Valley, CA 2007 Challenge How do you balance a premier private school’s desire to enhance its music and drama curriculum with a respect for its gorgeous natural setting and the sensitivities of neighbors? This top-performing college preparatory school set out to create a state-of-the-art performing arts center
• • • 2007 – 2009 Challenge With a 150-year legacy of building strong kids, strong families, and strong communities, and with branches located on some of the most pristine sites in the world, it appeared that the YMCA of San Francisco had everything going for it. Yet, this organization lacked a compelling vision and