Amgen Headquarters

In collaboration with Johnson Fain, Studio-MLA created a Master Plan that established a common vocabulary for site elements on the evolving bio tech campus, now occupied by Amgen. The intent of the project was to transform a typical suburban office campus from an auto-centric series of surface parking lots and turf setbacks into a pedestrian-oriented campus environment. The 5,000 people who work and visit the campus now park their cars in perimeter structures, walk or take shuttle buses around the park-like campus and find inspiration in the immediate landscape and views of the coastal mountains beyond. In addition to strategically-sited new buildings and parking structures, the plan elements include: central meadow, streetscape improvements, plazas, water features and pathways. The design process included a dialogue with individual building occupants, facility managers and the landscape maintenance company to ensure an inspired, cost effective, sustainable and easily-maintained pedestrian-oriented campus.

The campus landscape improvements are informed by their context within a native California landscape, establishing a sense of place and connection to the larger landscape and environment beyond. Although the client’s main concerns were aesthetic, the campus improvements have transformed the site into a more sustainable environment. Strategies incorporated into projects throughout the campus have included: use of native and drought tolerant plant species, use of local materials, use of plants in natural forms not requiring trimming, bio filtration of stormwater, reduction of heat islands caused by extensive dark paving, limited use of turf and the use of highly efficient irrigation systems with weather monitoring.