(IRM) Building on the UCSF Parnassus campus was recently approved by the Regents of the University of California, San Francisco. Commissioned to house UCSF’s regenerative medicine research program, the new facility will provide an innovative environment designed to foster collaborative relationships among the university’s scientific and medical researchers.

The curved, terraced building follows the arc and slope of a very narrow hillside site between Medical Center Way and UCSF Medical Center. Its horizontal form allows the entire building to operate as one continuous lab across its four split levels,
encouraging physical and visual connectivity among its users. Exterior ramps along the north façade seamlessly connect each lab floor in continuous circulation. Abundant south-facing glazing floods the open laboratories and offices with natural light, providing views of Mount Sutro across Medical Center Way. Landscaped green roofs provide garden amenities for the offices, and break rooms serve as social, interactive hubs.
A unique base isolation design strategy minimizes both the foundation work and the seismic forces acting on the building above. The strategy provides building materials economy and fulfills a primary programmatic goal of rapid re-occupancy following seismic events. IRM reaches out to three nearby research and medical buildings via a pedestrian bridge, connecting it to the heart of the campus research community. The project also initiates improvements in campus pedestrian connectivity through enhanced pedestrian walkways, and anticipates future pedestrian route improvements with its site development and landscaping. Scheduled for groundbreaking in mid-2008, the building is expected to be completed in 2010. In accordance with university policy, the project will be certified LEED Silver and will follow Labs21 environmental performance criteria. Rafael Viñoly Architects’ project director for the Institute for Regeneration Medicine Building is Josh Schroeder, who also oversaw the programming, design, and documentation of the firm’s UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center Research Building, under construction on the university’s Mission Bay campus.