BY DAVE THOMAS
As San Diego architect Michael Wilkes, principal of Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker, noted, all architects dream of projects that challenge their creativity and offer the opportunity to explore new ideas both creative and technical.
In recently leading the architectural design for several local biotech construction projects, Wilkes and his co-workers got just that opportunity.
These include the Gemini Science Inc., or GSI, project, and the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology, or LIAI, both in La Jolla.
GSI is the U.S. subsidiary of Kirin Brewery Co. Ltd., a Japanese comprehensive beverage group, and acts as Kirin’s sole agent in the United States, facilitating the company’s pharmaceutical research and business development efforts in North America. LIAI is a nonprofit medical research center dedicated to increasing knowledge and improving human health through studies of the immune system.
On a joint project recently completed for GSI and LIAI, Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker, in business since 1961 and employing a staff of 75-plus in its San Diego location, provided master-planning and programming services, shell design, interior architecture, and furnishing for the new facility.
Research Facility Completed
GSI and LIAI hosted a dedication ceremony last month to celebrate the completion of their new state-of-the-art, 145,000-square-foot research facility. The project is the first to be completed within the UC San Diego Science Research Park, adjacent to the East Campus Medical Center complex.
The prime location of the new facility within the UCSD Science Research Park is thought to make the park a fertile breeding ground for ideas and scientific interchange among GSI, LIAI and UCSD scientists.
While GSI and LIAI remain independent organizations, joint research projects are planned with UCSD.
The new facility replaces the current 45,000-square-foot GSI and LIAI building, also designed by Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker.
More than 51,000 square feet of research laboratory space encompassing 14 independent research laboratory units are included in the new project, as well as 77,000 square feet housing scientific technologies and office space for scientists, research support staff and administrative personnel. The project also includes a 29,000-square-foot basement garage and on-site parking.
According to Wilkes, the architectural firm designed a 55,000-square-foot laboratory building for GSI/LIAI in 1996. That project is located on Science Center Drive in the Torrey Pines Science Center.
Careful Review
The new project is the first in the UCSD Science Research Park at the east campus. A critical aspect of the negotiations of the lease with UCSD included both the design and approval by several UCSD groups, including the campus Design Review Board.
“I believe GSI/LIAI selected our firm because of our design experience on their initial project and experience on the UCSD campus,” Wilkes said. “We are the designers for two large housing and dining projects at Marshall and Warren colleges and the Perlman Ambulatory Care Center at Thornton Hospital. We were attracted to GSI/LIAI because many of their scientists and leaders had become friends over the years and we admire their passion for discovery.”
Wilkes added that the core of the project is the three-story atrium anchored by a cantilevered stair, which thrusts people into a grand space. Wilkes said the scale of this space is a critical element designed to create an inspiring environment and crossroads for researchers to spontaneously meet during the day.
The 165-seat seminar room, bistro, library and conference rooms ringing the atrium further emphasize its role as the “living room” for the institute.
Earth-tone colors and furnishings were used to create warm and comfortable interior spaces. As with the exterior motif, bold patterns were employed in the carpet, floor tile and varying planes of interior walls to add visual interest to both large and small spaces. The curved exterior wall of the seminar room slices through the south glass entry, allowing for a colorful and strong sculptural element in the atrium.
Well-Rounded Team
As in all projects, it takes cooperation among the builders and designers to deliver the desired results for the customer. Among the other companies bringing this project together was San Diego-based commercial building contractor DPR Construction Inc. Founded in 1990, DPR Construction operates with some 2,400 employees and 10 U.S. offices.
Brian Gracz, project manager for DPR, noted that this was the first project that a private entity had built on UCSD property.
“The university was actually responsible for issuing permits and inspections on the entire project,” Gracz said. “However, since it was a private project, we were not held to university construction standards but rather to the city of San Diego’s standards.
“There was a lot of learning on both sides. Ultimately, it was a very successful outcome for the university, DPR and Gemini Science/La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology,” Gracz said.
According to Gracz, under normal circumstances, a project of similar size and complexity takes about 14-15 months. “In our experience, this project was pretty standard and nothing over and above normal,” Gracz said, when asked if the work presented any major challenges for the firm. “The primary usage of this building is research laboratories and office space. Had there been a much higher chemistry requirement or clean-room requirement, it would increase the complexity of the interior of the build-out and therefore, extended construction duration.”
Dave Thomas is a San Diego-based freelance writer.
