University of California, Berkeley

OPEN GALLERY

Highlights

• Site – 5.5 acres; Building – 283,000 sq ft
• The plan maintains links to its Mid Century Modern origin by adaptively reusing existing buildings, open spaces and their associated infrastructure.
• The concept of programmatically flexible spaces that accommodate a wide range of evolving student uses was the centerpiece of the project vision.
• Passageways, ramps, stairways, urban gardens and galleries were placed to reinforce—and in some cases, redirect—the urban choreography of the district at
  multiple levels.
• Finding the harmonious balance amongst campus, student and city priorities was essential.
• Representatives of over 900 student organizations and leaders in city government participated in the planning process.
• The plan creates important places adjacent to and around the central plaza that “reframe” one’s connection to the larger campus and city.

Perspectives

Lower Sproul Plaza and surrounding buildings had long been identified as needing significant programmatic and physical redesign, and students desperately needed a new center that supported 21st century student life. The planning and programming approach included restoration and adaptive reuse of three buildings and their associated public spaces, removal of seismically dangerous Eshleman Hall, and the redesign of the landscape and plaza to unite the whole district.

The shaping of buildings and open spaces within the district was preceded by an assessment of movement patterns through the campus and city. These patterns were mapped for pedestrians and bicyclists to better gauge how they might inform the shape of the architecture and public spaces within the district.

The project transforms a district of previously hidden discrete functions into a permeable, multi-functional gateway to the campus. It invites the whole community to use its outdoor green spaces and new facilities through a network of paths, portals, galleries, bridges, and terraces that weave the district together as a three-dimensional social plaid. The educational, research, and public service missions of the University of California will all be supported by programs and activities that occur in this space.

Project Team

Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners; also CMG Landscape Architecture; Horton Lees Brogden Lighting Design; Sussman/ Prejza & Company; McCarthy Building Company; Rutherford + Chekene; Sherwood Design Engineers; Syska & Hennessy Group; Charles M. Salter Associates, Inc.; Atelier Ten; Noll & Tam Architects and Planners; Bruce Damonte Photography; Alan Karchmer Photography