Becton Dickinson Headquarters
Location San Jose, CA, USA | Client Becton Dickinson Immunocytometry Division | Size 4,000 square feet (interior) | Status Completed 1990 | Award ASLA Merit Award, 1991 | Tags Corporate and Commercial
A graduated series of 12 garden rooms transforms a two–and–a–half story central atrium and a two acre motor court for a medical research complex in San Jose, California. Defined by hedges of wooden armatures planted with ficus vines, the rooms enclose reflecting pools and range in size from 24–foot–square spaces bordered by 16–foot high hedges near the lobby to 4–foot square by 6–inch–high enclosures at the opposite end of the atrium. The taller, more secluded rooms serve as private conference spaces. The lower–walled spaces offer cafeteria seating at lunch time. Painted concrete reflecting pools surround planters clad with ceramic tile and filled with Sanseveria. Water pours into the pools from globes along the tiled edges of the pools which also provide seating.
A fishtail palm colonnade reinforces the atrium’s central axis. The atrium’s concrete floor is composed of poured concrete painted in green and black stripes. This pattern extends beyond the building to organize the motor court where a spiraled rock and ficus dome serve as a focal point.
