Slide Show: Stem Cell Science Soars to New Heights at UCSF

Work began in August 2008 on the 74,000-square-foot stem cell research building, set along a narrow steep hillside behind UCSF Medical Center on the UCSF Parnassus campus. The building was designed by New York's Rafael Viñoly and built by general contractor DPR Construction. Some 200 construction workers spent a full year preparing the steep hillside, and laying the foundation to the new stem cell research building. Working on a challenging site where some areas have a 60-degree slope, they drilled concrete pillars 60 to 90 feet into the bedrock and added compression and tension isolators to absorb the shock of seismic activity.The 600-foot-long serpentine-like building begins to take shape, as the steel framing indicates the series of split-level floors. The steel structure is outlined by open walkways to create a free flow of interaction of scientists between labs driving the cross-pollination of ideas to a new level.The entire, aluminum-sided building is constructed to step up a half floor at 150-foot intervals mimicking the upslope of the bordering road and building on UCSF’s culture of collaboration with each floor separated by only a half level.The $123-million building will house about 25 principal investigators leading different stem-cell-research laboratory groups, and will serve as the headquarters for stem cell research that extends throughout UCSF’s campuses. Rik Derynck, co-director, Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF, talks about the construction of the facility with Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann during the topping-off ceremony in September 2009. To better protect the building from earthquakes and mudslides, the steel-truss structure that supports the building space converges below on isolation bearings, centered atop concrete piers sunk into bedrock. These isolation bearings will allow the building to slide 26 inches in any horizontal direction and two inches vertically to filter an earthquake's movement.The building is the headquarters of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF, now one of the largest and most comprehensive programs of its kind in the United StatesArnold Kriegstein, director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF, stands in one of the common areas connecting labs in November 2010.The building is oriented to receive maximum sunlight and conference rooms boast panoramic views spanning from the San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge, all the way to downtown San Francisco. Common areas located between each half floor are designed to draw researchers to co-mingle and foster a cross-pollination of ideas among scientists representing a broad spectrum of labs and disciplines.The terraced, green roof functions as open space for scientists and staff as well as providing additional roofing insulation. Water pollution is also reduced due to a storm water filtering system.Illuminated at sunset, the structure curves horizontally along the hillside.Befitting UCSF’s long-standing tradition of fostering interaction among the faculty, the stem cell research building features an open, split-level design that is intended to encourage collaboration.Matthias Hebrok, PhD, director of the UCSF Diabetes Center and Metabolic Research Unit, looks at a film with Michael German, MD, Justine K. Schreyer Endowed Chair in Diabetes Research and an endocrinologist at UCSF Medical Center. The main entrance to the building is 90 feet above ground level. Access is provided by a 140-foot-long enclosed walking bridge that connects the Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building.Jun Song, PhD, walks easily between floors with Miguel Ramalho-Santos, PhD, using the open walkways that slope upwards. The view of the Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building from Saunders Court, which is adjacent the UCSF Health Sciences West building, left, and the UCSF School of Nursing. Officially opening the new the Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building on Feb. 9, 2011, are from left, Edythe and Eli Broad, Arnold Kriegstein, Ray Dolby, UC President Mark Yudof, Dagmar Dolby, Robert Klein, UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann and Dave and Natasha Dolby. Nestled along the hillside, the stem cell building will serve as the headquarters for stem cell research that extends throughout UCSF’s campuses. It, and the rest of the UCSF Parnassus campus, is less than five miles from the Pacific Ocean.

February 11, 2011

Scores of people gathered at UCSF to celebrate the grand opening of the Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building, headquarters of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research on the Parnassus campus on Feb. 9. 

The spectacular $123 million building was paid for with state and private funds, including the generous gifts from The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and Ray and Dagmar Dolby, who witnessed the opening ceremonies, and a $34.9 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).

Established in 2004 with the passage of the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Act by 7 million voters, CIRM is responsible for disbursing $3 billion in state funds for stem cell research to California universities and research institutions over the next 10 years. So far, UCSF has received $112 million in funding from CIRM.

UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann, MD, MPH, was joined on stage for the festive occasion – complete with a ribbon-cutting, balloon drop and trumpet section – by new San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee, Eli Broad, Robert Klein, chair of the governing board of CIRM; Sam Hawgood, MBBS, dean of the UCSF School of Medicine; UC President Mark Yudof and Arnold Kriegstein, MD, PhD, director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF.

The opening of the new stem cell research building – the first new building on the UCSF Parnassus campus in years – marks a milestone in UCSF’s pioneering program, one of the largest of its kind in the United States.

“It is clear that we are in the midst of a revolution,” said Kriegstein, who compared the “bold, innovative and risk-taking” building to the research that is being conducted inside.

Designed by renowned architect Raphael Viñoly, in collaboration with the design/build team of DPR Construction, SmithGroup Architects and Forell/Elsesser Engineers, the cantilevered, serpentine building is a series of four split-level floors with terraced roofs with grass-covered patios. Open labs flow into each other, with office and lounge areas located on the routes between labs, promoting interaction throughout the building.

“I think it’s fair to say that the end product is a feat of human ingenuity and a testament to the architectural genius of Rafael Viñoly and the leadership of UCSF's architectural and construction teams led by Michael Bade, Michael Toporkoff and George Hastings, with SmithGroup and DPR Construction,” said Desmond-Hellmann in her welcoming remarks.

The stem cell research building provides a state-of-the-art home for some 125 labs with scientists exploring the earliest stages of animal and human development. The goal of these studies is to understand how disorders and diseases, such as diabetes, multiple sclerosis and cancer, develop and how they could be treated with regenerative medicine. 

Photos by Mark Citret, Bruce Damonte/Courtesy of Rafael Viñoly Architects, Peter DaSilva and Susan Merrell 

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