11/27/95
CONTACT: Stanford University News Service (650) 723-2558
COMMENT:Judy Chan, Planning Office (415) 725-2115
STANFORD -- Stanford's Palm Drive Reconstruction Project of 1994 has been honored with a Merit Award in Design by the American Society of Landscape Architects.
The award, one of only nine given nationally, was presented at the society's annual meeting Oct. 9 in Cleveland, Ohio, to the university Planning Office and to the landscape architecture firm of Tom Richman and Associates.
"Although the project schedule was extremely compressed - allowing less than nine months for design and construction - the project was completed 20 days early and $100,000 under budget," the society's panel of judges wrote. "Much credit for that goes to the collaborative approach, which facilitated rapid review and approvals."
In addition to Richman, David Neuman, university architect and head of the planning office, and Judy Chan, associate director of the planning office, a number of other people were credited by the society for their contributions to the project. They were Jennifer Worth of Richman and Associates; Margaret Kimball, university archivist; Herb Fong, grounds manager; Hilary Karp, public safety; Jeffrey Tumlin, transportation programs; Ashok Aggarwal, a traffic engineer with the city of Palo Alto; Dave Richwood and Janine O'Flaherty of Brian Kangas Foulk, the consulting engineering firm; the primary contractor, Pavex Corporation; and Michael Kuntz, university project manager for Palm Drive.
Planning for the reconstruction began in February 1994, and work started in early July. The $3.5 million project was completed in August 1994, three weeks early.
In addition to completely rebuilding and resurfacing the notoriously bumpy
3,750-foot-long road, the project incorporated Frederick Law Olmsted's original, but never built, granite curb design. The addition of slotted edge drains also solved the roadway's persistent drainage problems. Judges noted that the project maintained the historic integrity of the entry, and protected and preserved historic palm trees and other foliage in the area.
"As a focal element of the campus plan Palm Drive is one of the most sacred outdoor spaces in the western United States," the judges wrote. "By using Olmsted's vision as a foundation, the project team struck an optimal balance between aesthetics, history and modern functional needs - in the end, providing adequate road capacity while preserving the historic roadway's character."
The results of the competition were published in the November 1995 issue of the society's journal, Landscape Architecture.
"It's unusual for a roadway project to receive this kind of national recognition," said Chan.
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