Located within a western, industrial section of Berkeley is a proposal to construct a R&D spec office building designed around lab spaces.  The building’s 31’-6” structural grids are optimized to each accommodate 3 industry-standard 10’-6” lab bays.  Floor-to-floor heights are set at 15’-0” to also satisfy lab needs.

Responding to the industrial nature of the surrounding buildings, a material palette of deep, exposed concrete panels framing glass curtainwall sits atop a more opque base that is pulled back from the sidewalk to create a landscaped edge along the pedestrian sidewalk as well as privacy for ground-floor tenants.

Connecting users to the surrounding community was important.  Required offsite parking was located to the rear of the site so that the building maintained a strong urban connection.  A landmarked historic warehouse structure on site was proposed to be repurposed as shading for the off-street parking, with public access and view corridors available down a landscaped parklet off the main road.   Outdoor terraces were incorporated for each tenant, encouraging indoor-outdoor connections.  

I served as a senior architect on this project from concept design through schematic design, conducting massing, materiality, and facade design studies, coordinating the design with consultants, as well as producing client presentations.