San Francisco, USA
The result of a uniquely collaborative design process, the UCSF Joan and Sanford I. Weill Neurosciences Building by Mark Cavagnero Associates with SmithGroup for the University of California is a new typology in education buildings and a lively addition to the San Francisco campus.
The first center to integrate the research and treatment of neurology and psychiatry at UCSF, the Weill Neurosciences Building challenges the traditional boundaries of these disciplines through a program that fuels connectivity and collaboration.
For its innovative and inspired design, the UCSF Joan and Sanford I. Weill Neurosciences Building has recently been awarded a 2023 American Architecture Award and a 2022 Green Good Design Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
From the outset of the project, the integrated project team drew inspiration from the incredible scientific research and innovative patient treatments that the scientists and doctors are doing already and that this building will support.
The team understood that this will be a building of hope for many, and it should express its potential as a catalyst for progress.
Architecturally, the building is conceived as a pair of programmatically driven wings, united around a public atrium which includes public and social spaces.
Wrapped with an architectural screen expressive of the precise science within, the four-story research volume is lifted above a transparent two-story clinical volume wherein natural materials seek to create a warm, serene space conducive to care.
This clear and concise massing is enlivened through powerful articulation of the forms that are informed by the campus to create a dynamic and welcoming environment that is illuminated and connected to nature.
Delivered through a collaborative Big Room cross-discipline teaming approach and ongoing collaboration, the team was able to develop and refine the design and facilitate decision-making.
The team achieved a high level of design aspiration on this high-performing and complex building, including approximately 68,000 square foot Wet Research, 70,000 square foot of Dry Research, 60,000 square foot of Clinical Space, including two 3T MRIs, and 15,000 square foot of Shared/Support Program.
Project: UCSF Joan and Sanford I. Weill Neurosciences Building
Architects: Mark Cavagnero Associates
Lead Architect: Mark Cavagnero
Design Team: Kang Kiang, Paul Davison, Federica Carrara, Joan Young Park. Muge Bicer, Tom Bliska, Eduardo Dana, Jiane Du, Travis Howe, David Kwon, Suzan Ozcelik, Emma Spilsbury, and Tim Waters
Architects of Record: SmithGroup
Landscape Architects: Office of Cheryl Barton
General Contractor: DPR Construction Inc.
Client: University of California, San Francisco
Photographers: Tim Griffith and Kyle Jeffers
