| UCSF Opens Helen Diller Family Cancer Research Building |
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The facility was designed by New York-based Rafael Vinoly Architects and named after San Francisco native Helen Diller, who along with her husband contributed $35 million to build the center. The five-level, 164,000-square-foot center acts as an integral part of a larger master plan for the UCSF Mission Bay campus. The building is essentially two adjacent boxes: a vertical piece clad in travertine stone and a longer section wrapped in silvery steel facing north. The two forms meet above a glass lobby that connects Third Street to a plaza on the west. A travertine-clad south wall rises straight from the sidewalk and at the other end the structure steps down toward a future park area. The design and construction of the laboratory building has many unique features. For example, in most laboratory buildings the basement houses the boilers, generators and other building essential equipment. Due to the nature of Mission Bay’s soupy landfill soil, most of this equipment is housed on first floor of the building. With the opening of the Helen Diller Family Cancer Research building, the Mission Bay campus now has four research buildings as well as a community center and four residential buildings. Hunt is proud to have been part of delivering the state-of-the-art facility to UCSF and looks forward to future opportunities with the organization as the campus continues to grow. |
