WRNS Studio and Rudolph and Sletten, Inc., recently won a design/build competition for a new faculty office building at UC San Francisco’s Mission Bay campus, which takes cues from the workplaces of high-tech companies. When completed, the 7-story academic office building will house UCSF physicians, faculty, and students in an interdisciplinary, flexible, light-filled environment. Drawing on the principles of the activity-based workplace, the design gives each occupant a “home base” workstation, but also a variety of other spaces for specific work and social activities, ranging from huddle rooms and breakout areas to conference rooms. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Our planning incorporates activity-based workplace design, which anticipates the many different types of activities in which occupants will engage during a typical day. The spaces for specific work and social activities, including focus rooms, huddle rooms, a wide variety of break-out areas, and conference rooms, are organized into comfortably scaled work neighborhood. Theses spaces can shrink or grow depending on specific departmental needs over time. Workstation clusters are placed to give each workspace access to daylight and views. A cluster of “hotel” workstations off each floor’s elevator lobby meets the needs of casual, drop-in visitors and longer-term visitors; other hotel workstations are embedded within work groups for longer stays. Two-story atriums serve as “town centers,” encouraging interaction by bringing together coffee service, restrooms, conference rooms, huddle rooms, and breakout spaces.
