Originally constructed for the Energy Biosciences Institute (now occupied by the Innovative Genomics Institute), the building houses a collection of chemists, biologists, engineers, and economists working together to solve the world’s most pressing environmental problems. Like the proposed UCSF PRAB project, the 112,000 sf building was envisioned as a flexible facility with multidisciplinary and informal meeting spaces to foster cross-discipline innovation. The building also features wet and dry laboratories, support space, and an 80-seat conference room.  

‍

The Innovative Genomics Institute Building is located on the north eastern edge of campus at the corner of two high-traffic streets. The building site was formerly occupied by two concrete buildings with full basements that were demolished as part of the new construction. As a result, we designed the new foundations to provide a shored excavation of the site and creatively incorporated subgrade features of the previous construction, to our advantage, into the new building construction—turning a difficult obstacle into a project asset. Working with the geotechnical engineer and construction manager, we devised an early shoring and excavation package that provided custom solutions to each face of the excavation—reducing excavation costs considerably.

‍

The building’s structural system was designed using BIM and is a combination of special moment and buckling-restrained braced frames. The project underwent intensive architectural review by UC Berkeley to ensure the design would integrate well with the surrounding structures. With the campus and city’s approval, designers selected and implemented a new German “Fiber C” façade, which had never been used before.