RUDOLPH AND SLETTEN NAMED GENERAL CONTRACTOR FOR THE
J. DAVID GLADSTONE INSTITUTES BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH FACILITY AT MISSION BAY
FOSTER CITY, CA (May 28, 2004)—Rudolph and Sletten General Contractors announced today that it is the general contractor for the J. David Gladstone Institutes’ new biomedical research facility. The $72 million building will be the first private biotech research facility built at Mission Bay, forming the cornerstone of the City’s planned “biotech corridor.” The six-story, un-bonded braced steel frame laboratory and administrative offices is fast-tracked for completion in October 2004.
The J. David Gladstone Institutes headquarters is located adjacent to UCSF’s new 43-acre Mission Bay campus. Both are situated at the heart of an ambitious 303-acre mixed-use redevelopment project that promises to become the West Coast’s premier biomedical research hub.
The J. David Gladstone Institutes is an independent, nonprofit institution. The new 185,000 square foot facility will bring under one roof the three Gladstone institutes – Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology, and the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease – as well as administration, which are currently housed in four separate locations. The new building will significantly expand the Institutes’ research capabilities and will ultimately accommodate more than 500 researchers and support staff. In addition, it will enable enhanced collaboration between Gladstone researchers and their UCSF colleagues.
Rudolph and Sletten was selected for the project because of its acknowledged expertise in building state-of-the-art biotech and pharmaceutical manufacturing and research facilities, including The Center for Clinical Science Research (CCSR) at Stanford.
For over four decades, Rudolph and Sletten has constructed specialized facilities for many biotech industry leaders, including ALZA, Chiron, Genentech, and Johnson & Johnson.
Other recently completed projects include the corporate headquarters and research laboratories for Cell Genesys in South San Francisco, and the Broad Center for Biological Sciences at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
The Gladstone Institutes facility is being constructed on a long and narrow rectangular footprint and has been designed in such a way as to maximize the amount of natural light throughout the facility, including the laboratories and offices. A key design goal of the facility was to enhance collaboration among researchers and among the three Institutes. To achieve this, each of the Institutes have been laid out in long, relatively narrow “stripes.” This layout is actually facilitated by the building’s long/narrow footprint. Each “stripe” represents an uninterrupted, dedicated work space, yet is open to and accessible from the other work areas (“stripes”). This design actually creates more flexibility and more useable space due to the open nature of the labs and other work areas. In addition, this type of design has been shown to foster greater collaboration among researchers and support staff. The architect of record is NBBJ, San Francisco.
The first floor consists of administrative offices and building operations. In addition, it features four large meeting rooms as well as a 150-person lecture hall. The three Institutes, including science offices and laboratories, are located on the third, fourth, and fifth floors.
“We knew that Rudolph and Sletten could meet our need for quality and a quick schedule,” said Todd Sklar, AIA, of Mezzatesta Sklar, who is serving as the owner’s development consultant and representative for the project. “We also wanted a contractor that could provide the quality of an academic building with the business attitude that goes with research and development facilities. Rudolph and Sletten’s experience and expertise in the biotech area enable it to deliver that combination.”
Construction Overview
-
Highlights of Rudolph and Sletten’s work for the Gladstone Institutes include:
-
Site preparation, including grading and capping of the soil through placement of base rock. Rudolph and Sletten also dug footings underground to support the building.
-
Construction of a tube-steeled truss system attached to the building’s steel skeleton that had to support heavy loads that the skin system demanded. The truss system is bolted onto protruding steel studs that are part of the skeleton.
-
Integration of the building’s granite skin to the truss system. Aluminum and glass curtain walls and metal panels were also integrated with the granite into the truss system.
-
Coordination of a state-of-the-art lab case work system. The innovative design of the laboratories called for flexible workstations instead of separate rooms with partitions, in order to encourage interaction among scientists and researchers. This configuration required the construction of a suspended, state-of-the-art lab case work system that is cantilevered from a core for flexibility. The case work system can be rearranged and reconfigured within the lab space to accommodate a wide variety of arrangements for as many as 94 researchers on each floor. The suspended case work system also minimizes the amount of piping and distribution to the benches.
-
Self-performance of all the concrete work, including the structural concrete slabs and suspended slabs.
-
Coordination of all the duct work and piping throughout the building, made more difficult by a shorter-than-average floor to ceiling height.
About Rudolph and Sletten Inc.
Rudolph and Sletten (www.rsconstruction.com) is one of the leading general contracting firms on the West Coast. As a pacesetter in the construction industry, Rudolph and Sletten has provided quality-oriented general contracting and construction management services for over four decades. Rudolph and Sletten’s expert professionals manage each job comprehensively, from site selection and preconstruction services through project completion. With its corporate headquarters in Foster City, the company also has regional offices in Roseville, Irvine, and San Diego, California.
Rudolph and Sletten’s building expertise includes virtually all types of projects, with an emphasis on those markets where their technical expertise and quality excel: corporate campuses and office buildings, biotechnology and pharmaceutical research and manufacturing, health care, electronics, and high-tech research. Other areas of expertise include parking structures, educational institutions, housing, public attraction, and retail facilities. Rudolph and Sletten’s current clients include Hewlett-Packard, Genentech, Kaiser, Stanford University, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Chiron, eBay, and the University of California.
About The J. David Gladstone Institutes
The J. David Gladstone Institutes are recognized as world leaders in cardiovascular disease research, AIDS research and neurodegenerative research. The institutes include the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, which opened in 1979, and focuses on
atherosclerosis and its complications. The Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology was established in 1992 to study HIV, the causative agent of AIDS.
Research linking apolipoprotein E, long studied at the Gladstone Institute of
Cardiovascular Disease for its role in heart disease, with Alzheimer’s disease, led to the establishment of the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease in 1998. The three Gladstone Institutes are currently located at the San Francisco General Hospital campus of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). While Gladstone is independent, it is affiliated with UCSF. Gladstone investigators hold university appointments and also participate in university activities.
About Mission Bay
San Francisco’s new Mission Bay development covers 303 acres of land situated between San Francisco Bay and Interstate-280. The Mission Bay North and South Redevelopment Project Areas were established by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in November 1998. Development of Mission Bay is controlled through the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency and master developer/land owner Catellus Development Corporation. Mission Bay will feature a corporate, science, and technology campus, as well as a 43-acre research campus for the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). The UCSF research campus will include 20 buildings, over 2.65 million square feet of space, and employ some 9,000 scientists and staff.
###
