J. David Gladstone Institutes, Mission Bay Lab

The J. David Gladstone’s 195,000 square foot biomedical research facility in Mission Bay is the consolidation of three Gladstone Institutes: Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, Institute of Virology and Immunology and Institute of Neurological Disease.

The six-story building includes administrative offices, a 150-person lecture hall, four seminar rooms, science offices and laboratories. The facility houses a biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) labs and a vivarium on the sixth floor. The additional lab space will enable Gladstone to grow to more than 500 researchers and support staff over a ten-year period.

The exterior skin consists of Conquistador granite panels, quarried in Spain and manufactured in Italy, pre-finished metal panels and aluminum curtain wall systems. The building's long and relatively narrow footprint maximizes the amount of natural light in the offices and laboratories. Stairwells at the ends of the building will have large windows to take advantage of the beautiful views of downtown San Francisco and the Bay.

During the design phase, the building was changed from a 5-story to a 6-story building. To add the additional floor without becoming classified as a high-rise, the floor-to-floor height was reduced to 14’-10". Typically this type of build would have a floor-to-floor height between 15 to 17 feet. The smaller height left little room for MEP systems which proved to be a challenge.

This project is the first private project in San Francisco to use un-bonded brace frames as its lateral brace system. The un-bonded braces were a key component in the planning and execution of the accelerated construction schedule. Constructed took only 19 months, two months ahead of the contractual completion date.