The University of California San Diego has approved plans for a new Multidisciplinary Life Sciences Building, with construction starting this fall. The 200,000-sf, six-level facility will be the first building on the UC San Diego campus to bridge health science research with biological science research and teaching.
The facility aims to help meet a growing demand for modern teaching and research space across disciplines at UC San Diego Health Sciences and the School of Biological Sciences. Research and teaching will focus on the intersection of neurodegenerative disease, inflammation, immunology, and infectious disease—using advanced technologies to drive discovery in academia and industry.
The design by Flad Architects creates scientific neighborhoods that support interdisciplinary collaboration and education at the interface of biology, machine learning, and advanced instrumentation. The research laboratories enable flexibility in response to changing programs and research, while the teaching laboratories integrate experimentation, instrumentation, and computational analysis.
The building program also includes shared research facilities, collaborative meeting areas, conference rooms, offices, and public spaces.
In the glass façade, perforated concrete fins serve both as a shading device and as a light shelf reflecting natural light into the building. The massing also creates outdoor terraces on each floor. The building’s upper floors are offset, creating the appearance of rotated stacks. The street level, with biological science classrooms and shared meeting rooms, will put science on display.
“The Multidisciplinary Life Sciences Building will help solidify UC San Diego’s standing as a premier research institution in the field of neurobiology,” John M. Carethers, MD, vice chancellor for health sciences at UC San Diego, said in a press statement.
The project is designed to meet LEED Gold certification at a minimum. Construction on the site, currently a parking lot and service road, is expected to start in fall 2024 and conclude in 2027.
On the Building Team:
Design architect and architect of record: Flad Architects
MEP engineer: Salas O’Brien
Structural engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers
Construction manager: McCarthy
Related Stories
Libraries | Oct 30, 2024
Reasons to reinvent the Midcentury academic library
DLR Group's Interior Design Leader Gretchen Holy, Assoc. IIDA, shares the idea that a designer's responsibility to embrace a library’s history, respect its past, and create an environment that will serve student populations for the next 100 years.
Healthcare Facilities | Oct 18, 2024
7 design lessons for future-proofing academic medical centers
HOK’s Paul Strohm and Scott Rawlings and Indiana University Health’s Jim Mladucky share strategies for planning and designing academic medical centers that remain impactful for generations to come.
University Buildings | Oct 15, 2024
Recreation and wellness are bedfellows in new campus student centers
Student demands for amenities and services that address their emotional and mental wellbeing are impacting new development on college campuses that has led to recreation centers with wellness portfolios.
Higher Education | Oct 14, 2024
Higher education design for the first-gen college student
In this Design Collaborative blog, Yogen Solanki, Assoc. AIA, shares how architecture and design can help higher education institutions address some of the challenges faced by first-generation students.
University Buildings | Oct 9, 2024
Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences opens a new 88-acre campus
Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences has opened a new campus spanning 88 acres, over three times larger than its previous location. Designed by RDG Planning & Design and built by Turner Construction, the $260 million campus features technology-rich, flexible educational spaces that promote innovative teaching methods, expand research activity, and enhance clinical services. The campus includes four buildings connected with elevated pathways and totaling 382,000 sf.
University Buildings | Oct 4, 2024
Renovations are raising higher education campuses to modern standards
AEC higher ed Giants report working on a variety of building types, from performing arts centers and libraries to business schools. Hybrid learning is seemingly here to stay. And where possible, these projects address wellness and mental health concerns.
Museums | Oct 1, 2024
UT Dallas opens Morphosis-designed Crow Museum of Asian Art
In Richardson, Tex., the University of Texas at Dallas has opened a second location for the Crow Museum of Asian Art—the first of multiple buildings that will be part of a 12-acre cultural district. When completed, the arts and performance complex, called the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum, will include two museums, a performance hall and music building, a grand plaza, and a dedicated parking structure on the Richardson campus.
Higher Education | Sep 30, 2024
Studio Gang turns tobacco warehouse into the new home of the University of Kentucky’s College of Design
Studio Gang has completed the Gray Design Building, the new home of the University of Kentucky’s College of Design. In partnership with K. Norman Berry Associates Architects, Studio Gang has turned a former tobacco warehouse into a contemporary facility for interdisciplinary learning and collaboration.
University Buildings | Sep 24, 2024
Texas Christian University opens new medical school building
The facility is designed and programmed to anticipate advances in medicine and technology.
Designers | Sep 20, 2024
The growing moral responsibility of designing for shade
Elliot Glassman, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C, CPHD, Building Performance Leader, CannonDesign, makes the argument for architects to consider better shade solutions through these four strategies.
