Post Occupancy Evaluation - UCSF Helen Diller Family ...

Summary of Findings
Building Description
The Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) houses the
brain, kidney and prostate cancer research departments, as well as the UCSF Cancer Research Institute, whose 15 major
laboratories investigate the basic biological mechanisms of cancer. At 162,000 gross square feet, the five-story building
features two interlocking L-shaped wings, one containing research labs, the other containing offices for principal
investigators and research fellows. The two L-shaped wings enclose a five-story sky-lit atrium in the residual space
between them. Open staircases and pedestrian bridges are located through the multi-level atrium with the goal of
promoting building circulation while providing researchers and students with ample public function space. Offices for
principal investigators and fellows in the north and east wings are clad in aluminum and glass curtain-wall, reflecting the
more public and open nature of their function. Laboratories and support spaces are located at the south and west wings,
which tie the building into the surrounding campus. A vivarium occupies the fifth floor of the research wing. A shared
seminar facility located in the level one lobby accommodates 70 occupants, with a pre-function area immediately
adjacent. The balance of level one is devoted to building support and mechanical functions. Sculptural enclosures screen
rooftop mechanical equipment and exhaust stacks, while mandated setbacks are transformed into cascading terraces that
soften and activate the north façade.
Post-occupancy Evaluation Summary
The Helen Diller Family Cancer research Building is an attractive desirable research building well situated on UCSF’s
Mission Bay campus. Its views and well-lit public spaces connecting state-of-the-art BSL-2 laboratories and office space
are uplifting to occupants. While the building’s purpose is to optimize synergies of co-located cancer researchers and
foster Translational Research, collaboration between groups is comparatively low and not yet at optimal levels of
interaction.
Health Safety Security
Environment Health and Safety personnel are very concerned with the potential safety hazard created by the location of
emergency showers within 18” of the main electric panels on each floor. Regular testing requires careful placement of
plastic sheeting in order to prevent water from spraying onto the panels.
Recommended lighting levels at a lab bench and writing desk area are between 75 – 100 foot-candles. Lighting levels
measured in the Diller lab are between 18 and 70 foot candles at these areas. Focus Group participants and web survey
respondents complained about low lighting levels causing eye strain, fatigue and difficulty seeing close up work.
Post Occupancy Evaluation
January 7, 2011