UC San Diego’s new Multidisciplinary Life Sciences Building will support research and teaching in both health and biological sciences
By Novid Parsi, Contributing Editor
The University of California San Diego has approved plans for a new Multidisciplinary Life Sciences Building, with construction starting this fall. The 200,000-sf, six-level facility will be the first building on the UC San Diego campus to bridge health science research with biological science research and teaching.
The facility aims to help meet a growing demand for modern teaching and research space across disciplines at UC San Diego Health Sciences and the School of Biological Sciences. Research and teaching will focus on the intersection of neurodegenerative disease, inflammation, immunology, and infectious disease—using advanced technologies to drive discovery in academia and industry.
The design by Flad Architects creates scientific neighborhoods that support interdisciplinary collaboration and education at the interface of biology, machine learning, and advanced instrumentation. The research laboratories enable flexibility in response to changing programs and research, while the teaching laboratories integrate experimentation, instrumentation, and computational analysis.
The building program also includes shared research facilities, collaborative meeting areas, conference rooms, offices, and public spaces.
In the glass façade, perforated concrete fins serve both as a shading device and as a light shelf reflecting natural light into the building. The massing also creates outdoor terraces on each floor. The building’s upper floors are offset, creating the appearance of rotated stacks. The street level, with biological science classrooms and shared meeting rooms, will put science on display.
“The Multidisciplinary Life Sciences Building will help solidify UC San Diego’s standing as a premier research institution in the field of neurobiology,” John M. Carethers, MD, vice chancellor for health sciences at UC San Diego, said in a press statement.
The project is designed to meet LEED Gold certification at a minimum. Construction on the site, currently a parking lot and service road, is expected to start in fall 2024 and conclude in 2027.
On the Building Team:
Design architect and architect of record: Flad Architects
MEP engineer: Salas O’Brien
Structural engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers
Construction manager: McCarthy