The Medico-Dental Building was designed by prominent local architect Birge Clark in a Spanish Colonial Revival style typical of downtown Palo Alto buildings from the 1920s. As a contributing building within a National Register Historic District, it is a local City landmark situated across from City Hall and anchoring an important street corner. However, the building had not undergone a full renovation in its lifetime and was structurally unsound and unable to meet California Historic Building Code requirements.
While the building was in remarkably good condition for its age, it lacked basic safety features and adequate structural strength. The project team carefully designed a new secondary stair, structural reinforcement, and building system upgrades to preserve the historic character of the building, with special focus on the exterior and main lobby. The character-defining features, including the terracotta roof, stucco finishes, steel windows and storefronts, wrought iron ornament, copper gutters, and hand-painted tile mosaics were cleaned, repaired, and maintained in place. New compatible storefronts and finishes were incorporated while remaining distinct from the historic fabric. The unenclosed stair, lobby, basement garage, and first floor mezzanine were preserved and reinforced. The team worked with local historic preservation staff to ensure a successful rehabilitation of this well-loved building. This careful rehabilitation the Medico-Dental Building has allowed it to continue serving the community for another century as a prominent feature of downtown Palo Alto.
