Silicon Valley, California, USA
Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK), landscape architecture studio Field Operations, San Francisco-based developers SKS Partners, and The University of California, Berkeley have formed a joint venture for the creation of the $2 billion Berkeley Space Center that would support research in aeronautics, computing, and climate science.
This multi-phase development would accelerate the area’s existing innovation ecosystem, catalyzing deeper collaboration between the private, academic, and governmental sectors.
The project has been awarded a 2024 American Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
The joint venture is dedicated to identifying, incubating, and launching technological breakthroughs across a diverse set of fields including astronautics, quantum computing, climate studies, and the social sciences.
Located within NASA’s Ames Research Center’s NASA Research Park, Berkeley Space Center would be designed from the ground up to foster a collaborative environment with the critical mass and infrastructure needed to expand the frontiers of knowledge and develop tomorrow’s defining technologies.
Overall, the development is expected to generate considerable employment opportunities, including more than 6,000 advanced R&D positions.
With a focus on high-growth, high-impact sectors, Berkeley Space Center aims to further cement the State of California as a global innovation leader.
“California’s innovation and drive is not limited to Earth,” said California Governor Gavin Newsom.
“Berkeley Space Center will help lead the state’s space tech development by bringing together top space leaders in academia, government, and industry to foster new technologies and breakthroughs.”
Berkeley Space Center will include a number of low-rise buildings clad in glass as well as open space.
UC Berkeley has, to date, contributed approximately $1 million to the Berkeley Space Center joint venture, in the form of salary for faculty, staff, and students working on the project and the academic planning related to the new research park.
If the project is approved, Berkeley Space Center would likely incur annual expenses of approximately $750,000 to support the salaries of faculty, staff, and students working on the project and at the site.
Project: Berkeley Space Center
Architects: Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK)
Lead Architects: Paul Woolford and Brian Jencek
Landscape Architects: James Corner Field Operations
Client/Developer: SKS Partners
Renderings: Courtesy of the Architects
