SILICON VALLEY OFFICES COME OF AGE
Toeniskoetter & Breeding Projects of Highest Standard

Toeniskoetter & Breeding, Inc. Construction recently completed these highest quality corporate offices for Knight-Ridder, which moved its headquarters from Miami to Downtown San Jose.

SAN JOSE -- Toeniskoetter & Breeding, Inc. (TBI) Construction has completed the new headquarters in Downtown San Jose for Knight-Ridder. The three-phased project encompasses 40,000-square-foot on the 12th and 15th floors of the renamed Knight-Ridder Tower. With completion of this last phase of construction, Knight-Ridder occupies more than 48,000 square feet in the 17-story tower at 50 West San Fernando Street adjacent to the Fairmont Hotel.

Knight-Ridder, Inc. publishes 34 dailies and 18 suburban newspapers across the United States. The company's decision to commission offices in San Jose of a quality equal to anywhere else in the world illustrates a coming of age that is occurring in Silicon Valley facilities design and professional offices construction.

Its new offices are designed to reflect both the long and solid history of the organization and its commitment to a technology-driven future, according to architect Mary Davidge of Robinson Mills & Williams Architecture & Interior Design in San Jose. One wall of the main lobby is wood of a traditional style that provides a gallery for historical documents, she noted, while out of this traditional wall comes a contemporary element in the form of a strong, blue curvilinear wall representing commitment to the future.
"Overall, the Knight-Ridder offices provide a comfortable and effective working environment," Davidge said. "They have a character that can be described as international with a Pacific Rim flavor."

In Palo Alto, meanwhile, the new offices of CS First Boston, the investment banking arm of one of Europe's largest banks, have been constructed with brick exteriors, slate roof and high-quality interior furnishings. From limestone-style window surrounds to wall sconces and carpeting, TBI Construction has built the firm's Silicon Valley/Stanford Research Park offices to a quality commensurate with that of the traditional financial centers of the Northeast and Western Europe.

TBI Construction simultaneously built the shell of the two-story brick building at 2400 Hanover Street for the property owner and the interior for the tenant. The building houses CS First Boston's Corporate Finance and Mergers and Acquisitions groups. The parent is Credit Suisse Bank of Switzerland.

"As one would expect from powerful European banks, these offices were constructed to the highest standard of design, materials and workmanship," TBI Executive Vice President Dan Breeding said. "There are exceptional cherry shelving and cabinets, a variety of decorative ceiling treatments and detail, and extensive functional and decorative lighting systems. In addition to brick, the exterior features fiber-reinforced concrete window surrounds that resemble limestone, but are lighter and more durable."

Christiaan Maarse, project architect for the San Francisco firm of Fee Munson Ebert, described the 32,000-square-foot building as a high-end, Class A office building reflecting a traditional banking image.

Significant features of the two-story building, Maarse said, include a large conference center with food service and state-of-the-art audio-visual presentation capabilities and a two-story entrance atrium with special wood veneers in diagonal patterns from floor to ceiling. Virtually the entire building features coffered ceilings, all lighting is indirect, and each office has custom furniture and separate mechanical controls.

While admittedly at the high end of the spectrum, the offices of CS First Boston are just part of a broad trend on the Mid-Peninsula and elsewhere in Silicon Valley towards professional offices that reflect the growing success and maturity of the Silicon Valley economy and investment community.

Near the CS First Boston building are a number of other TBI construction projects. They include the Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati complex of law offices, law offices for seven other law firms ranked like Wilson Sonsini among the top 10 law firms nationally, the renovated world headquarters of Hewlett Packard Company and the new headquarters for Agilent Technologies.

In addition to CS First Boston, TBI has recently completed the Silicon Valley headquarters of T.A. Associates, Foundation Capital and Spectrum Equity Investors, all venture capital firms headquartered in Menlo Park, and Technology Partners headquartered in Palo Alto.

Founded in 1983, San Jose-based TBI Construction has completed more than $500 million in projects throughout the Bay Area. In addition to high-end professional offices, the company specializes in historical restoration and renovation, religious institutions, Multiple Prime Construction Management and new buildings for TBI's own portfolio and for others.