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The buildings were arranged around a spacious covered mall floored
with a wooden deck. This area provided passage between buildings and
served as an informal meeting space designed to encourage the exchange
of ideas between researchers and people working in other company departments.
Above the mall, a Unistrut space frame (composed of 49-inch-long steel
channels and specially formed connector plates) covered with Plexiglas
provided protection from rain and hot summer sun while allowing good
air circulation and adding visual interest.
Results
The American Institute of Architects recognized the Syntex Interim Facility
with a National Honor Award for its design.
By using two steel-structured, prefabricated products—the trailers
and the space frame—the architects created a flexible, practical,
and economical facility that could be built very quickly. Moreover,
their design had an aesthetic appropriate to the setting and the leading
edge pharmaceutical company it housed.
Syntex used the interim facility for five years before proceeding with
its plans for permanent buildings. It then sold the entire complex to
the University of California, Davis. The structures were disassembled,
moved approximately 100 miles to the campus, and reassembled.
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