IQ Winter 2011: Annual Awards Issue - (Page 15)

sTATe of The secTor//sTeel photo courtesy of the University of california, San francisco A site to Behold The hillside location of UCSF’s research facility posed logistical challenges for the design-build team. a NeW UcSf reSearch BUILDING oVercaMe exteNSIVe SIte coNStraINtS to BecoMe aN aWarD-WINNING exaMpLe of INNoVatIoN aND coLLaBoratIoN. when MIchAel sAks first saw the building site for a new medical research facility to be constructed on a hillside on the Parnassus campus of the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF), his first thought was, “How are we going to build this without someone getting hurt?” His next thought: “How in the world am I going to get materials and access to the site?” Indeed, the new Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regenerat ion Med ici ne Bu ild i ng’s ( R M B) 60-degree site slope and serpentine design posed an extraordinary number of logistical challenges for Saks, project executive at DPR Construction and project manager for the research facility. Plus funding for the project was dependent on a strict two-year design and completion window. With all those hurdles to overcome, RMB looked like a nearly impossible task. But the design-build team of DPR, SmithGroup Architects and Forell/Elsesser Engineers Inc. tackled those challenges head-on to complete a visually stunning and progressively functional facility. Complete collaboration and quick adaptations to the obstacles at the building site allowed the team to not only complete the project on time, but make significant improvements along the way. The $123 million, 68,500-square-foot RMB is 660 feet long, with four split-level floors, open interior spaces and terraced grass roofs that were not only designed to foster collaboration among scientists, but also earned the building LEED Gold certification. Due to the slope of the building site, RMB sits on a structural framework of steel trusses set in concrete piers that ranges from roughly 40 to 70 feet off the ground. Construction began in August 2008 and was completed in October 2010. Because grant funding for the project depended on the facility being completed in two years, one of the university’s first challenges was to focus on ways to speed the project along. While the initial design was prepared by Rafael Viñoly Architects, Michael Bade, assistant vice chancellor of capital programs and campus architect for UCSF, says that he deliberately chose the design-build delivery model to save time. “We knew that we were going to have to overlap design and construction in order to complete a major building in a two-year time frame,” he says. “Levelings are complicated, and it takes time to work them out, so we were going to have to start on site and be working it out at the same time. Design-build allowed us to do that.” An uphIll BATTle While the hillside was not ideal for the building, Bade says it was essentially the only spot available for a project with such strict time constraints. “There was one other site studied, but it would have required an extension of campus utility piping that would have prohibited the project from being completed in the necessary time frame,” he says. Of course, the site presented numerous logistical difficulties for every member of the team. With such steep slopes, varying elevations and rough terrain, simply gaining access was a major feat. Steve Marusich, project manager and senior associate for structural engineer Forell/Elsesser Engineers Inc., says the building’s drilled pier foundations posed an especially tough problem. “Trying to get any kind of drill rig out there was a major challenge,” Marusich says. “A 10 percent slope was the maximum that the drill rig could attain.” By paula andruss dbia.org winter//2011 15 http://www.dbia.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IQ Winter 2011: Annual Awards Issue

IQ Winter 2011: Annual Awards Issue

IQ Winter 2011: Annual Awards Issue - (Page C1)
IQ Winter 2011: Annual Awards Issue - (Page C2)
IQ Winter 2011: Annual Awards Issue - (Page 1)
IQ Winter 2011: Annual Awards Issue - (Page 2)
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IQ Winter 2011: Annual Awards Issue - (Page C3)
IQ Winter 2011: Annual Awards Issue - (Page C4)
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