Rafael Viñoly Architects The Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building

UCSF, San Francisco, California

A beautifully sinuous, serpentine building that makes use of every foot of available space.

The Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building is designed to foster intensive collaboration and a cross-pollination of ideas among scientists representing a broad spectrum of labs and disciplines. Located on a steeply sloping urban hillside, the building presented the design team a unique challenge: executing a horizontal structure on an uneven site.

The main floor functions as one continuous laboratory divided into four split levels, each stepping down a half-story as the building descends the forested hillside slope, and each level is topped by an office cluster and a grass roof with wildflowers and plants. Exterior ramps and stairs, taking advantage of the temperate climate, provide continuous circulation between all levels, and the facility connects to three nearby research buildings and UCSF Medical Center via a pedestrian bridge.

To further promote collaboration, the laboratories occupy a horizontal open-floor plan, with a flexible, custom-designed casework system that enables the rapid reconfiguration of the research program. Abundant south-facing glazing fills the open laboratories and offices with natural light and views of the wooded slope of Mount Sutro nearby.

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