Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine

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Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building

Regeneration Medicine Building Development in San Francisco, CA, USA – design by Rafael Viñoly

post updated Mar 4, 2023

Rafael Viñoly, the world-renowned Uruguayan architect who designed this Regeneration Medicine Building in San Francisco, has died aged 78.

Feb 10, 2011

Design: Rafael Viñoly Architects

UCSF Facility Rafael Viñoly Architects’ Design of Stem Cell Building at UCSF Completed

Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building
image courtesy of architects practice

Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Rafael Viñoly Architects’ design of the Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building at the University of California, San Francisco has been completed. The project is targeting LEED Gold certification. DPR Construction served as the design-build contractor and the Smith Group served as executive architect. The University held a grand opening celebration of the building today, February 9, 2011.

Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building San Francisco Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building San Francisco Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building San Francisco Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building San Francisco

Located on a steeply sloping urban hillside, the Dolby regeneration medicine building presented the design team a unique challenge: executing a horizontal structure on an uneven site. RVA responded by creating a beautifully sinuous, serpentine building that makes use of every foot of available space.

The main floor functions as one continuous laboratory divided into four split levels, each stepping down a half-story as the building descends the forested hillside slope, and each level is topped by an office cluster and a grass roof with wildflowers and plants. Exterior ramps and stairs, taking advantage of the temperate climate, provide continuous circulation between all levels, and the facility connects to three nearby research buildings and UCSF Medical Center via a pedestrian bridge.

The building structure is supported by steel space trusses springing from concrete piers, minimizing site excavation and incorporating seismic base isolation to absorb earthquake forces.

Inside the building, the transitions between the split levels are designed as hubs of activity. Break rooms and stairs located at these interfaces increase the potential for chance interaction – a goal for promoting a cross-pollination of ideas among the scientists – and interior glazing maximizes visual connectivity between the lower labs and the upper offices.

To further promote collaboration, the laboratories occupy a horizontal open-floor plan, with a flexible, custom-designed casework system that enables the rapid reconfiguration of the research program. Abundant south-facing glazing fills the open laboratories and offices with natural light and views of the wooded slope of Mount Sutro nearby.

Green roof terraces impart environmental benefits and an outdoor amenity for building occupants and campus community. Visible from surrounding campus buildings’ upper floors, the terraces create a welcoming transitional space where the dense campus meets the forest.

Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building San Francisco Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building San Francisco Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building San Francisco Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building San Francisco

The Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building is the headquarters for The Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF, which extends across all UCSF campuses. The Center encompasses 125 labs made up of scientists exploring the earliest stages of animal and human development.

The goal of these studies is to understand how disorders and diseases develop and how they could be treated based on the knowledge of, and use of, stem cells and other early-stage cells. The Institute’s mission is to translate basic research findings to clinical research and on to patient care. Scientists in the Institute will work closely with clinical researchers at UCSF Medical Center, located nearby, to translate discoveries into therapeutic strategies.

Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building San Francisco Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building San Francisco Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building San Francisco

Photos, Courtesy of Bruce Damonte

About Rafael Vinoly Architects

Founded in New York in 1983, Rafael Viñoly Architects also has offices in London, Los Angeles and the United Arab Emirates. Internationally known for architectural projects around the globe, the firm has designed many landmark cultural and civic complexes as well as institutional and commercial buildings, and master plans. Over the past quarter century, the practice has continually demonstrated its ability to reinvent institutional typologies and integrate the public realm into civic buildings.

The unusually diverse work the firm has completed includes award-winning educational facilities, courthouses, museums, performing arts centers, convention centers, athletic facilities, banks, hotels, laboratories, hospitals, recreational venues, residential commissions, and commercial, industrial and educational facilities. Projects range in scale from laboratory casework to urban design and master planning.

The US architecture firm has also completed several projects involving the restoration and expansion of large-scale buildings of significant historical and architectural value.

Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building San Francisco images / information received 090211 from the Rafael Vinoly Architects office

Rafael Vinoly Architects, USA

Location: UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco, North California, United States of America

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