Models that took "thousands of hours" to construct were destroyed, but product design and development company Studio Red is open for business at 115 Independence Drive in Menlo Park. The building's lobby was the scene of a sudden intrusion of a car at around 7:20 p.m. Tuesday (Feb. 18).

The driver was a 51-year-old woman from San Bruno, according to Menlo Park police. She was uninjured and mistook the gas pedal for the brake pedal -- while making a U-turn, Studio Red President Philip Bourgeois told the Almanac.

Menlo Park Police Department spokeswoman Nicole Acker confirmed Mr. Bourgeois' account of the accident.

The building was unoccupied at the time of the crash, Mr. Bourgeois said.

Studio Red does custom work for industrial customers, and includes design, engineering and machining services. The destroyed models were of carts meant to hold surgical equipment; the cart models were made of metal and the equipment models of plastic, Mr. Bourgeois said.

"They exploded," he said. "I don't know what I'm going to do."

The car drove through the lobby and into a conference room, on the way destroying several windows, several internal walls, and cabinets, Mr. Bourgeois said. The damage extended 60 feet down one hallway and, overall, is likely to run into tens of thousands of dollars, he said. "We're attempting to do a very aggressive cleaning," he said.

Mr. Bourgeois was at home in Woodside when he received an alert about the activation of the alarm in the Studio Red lobby. He called the Menlo Park police, went to the site, contacted a contractor and had the building boarded up and was home by 9:30 p.m., he said.