SAN FRANCISCO | Mission Bay

[timbad]

Originally Posted by WildCowboy

That's not a piledriver you see near Rock Hall...it's a drill for installing wicks...and the wicks have to go in first. Then they'll be able to transfer the current dirt piles, which will allow them to start construction on the neurosciences building on Block 19A directly next to Rock Hall.

... Can't tell much on the Gladstone garage yet, but it's slated to have a significant amount of planting on the façade. Hopefully...we don't have wait ten years for it to look good.

The cancer building should be done... I assume they're moving people in now.

How are the new section of Fourth Street and the cross streets connecting Third and Fourth coming?

... The north edge of UCSF's campus is really coming along there, so they need The Commons to move along with them.

1. thanks for the insight into what's going on next to Rock Hall! I was hoping someone would know.

2. no plantings yet around the Gladstone garage, but they have installed what I think is the wire lattice for lack of a better word for the climbing plants on the north side. at least I think that's what it is from my memory of a rendering I saw at some point. I imagine they will be substantially done with that project in a couple months at most.

3. the cancer building has had a security guard at the desk for the last few weeks, but last week was the first time I actually saw people going in and out of it as I walked by. it recently finally got its outside landscaping, such as it is.

4. I meant to mention this in my post; thanks for the reminder: they don't seem to be in any hurry to open up the length of Fourth St. to traffic. they haven't even striped it south of the Strata block. the two cross-streets on either side of Strata are open. since Fourth is blocked north of Strata as well, right now you just have essentially that one block surrounding Strata open. on baseball game days they seem to let people park along those streets.

5. I'm hoping, too, that they get going on the next parcel or two of the Commons soon, as soon as they are done with whatever it is they are doing now underground. toward the end of 2007, I got a handout that gave a timeline for completion of all open-space parcels in Mission Bay, and P15 and P16 (the Commons in front of Pfizer and the cancer building) were supposed to come on-line at the end of this year/beginning next. I think that's been pushed back significantly, since the dog run (P5) up by the creek, which hasn't been started yet, was supposed to be about done now!

[timbad]

a couple weeks ago they finally took down the fencing on the last remaining section of the mini-park underneath the freeway at the northwest corner of the creek. the building you can barely see at the right edge of the photo is public restrooms and I think storage.



most of the wrapping and scaffolding has come down on the affordable housing project ('something Walk') that should be the last north of the creek for some time. will get a photo soon.

and it looked like they had begun digging to connect the stretch of new street south of the huge parking garage (see earlier photo) with Third St. then they can connect up the sidewalks they have been working on too.

[WildCowboy]

Thanks, timbad...things are looking good.

Chronicle on the official opening of the cancer center this week:

$135 million UCSF cancer research site to open
Victoria Colliver, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, May 31, 2009

Molecules interact and bind with each other when in close proximity, so maybe that same theory could be applied to the scientists working inside UCSF's new Mission Bay cancer research center.

Researchers at the $135 million Helen Diller Family Cancer Research Building, which officially opens Tuesday after three years of construction, will soon find out. The center doubles UCSF's cancer research space and brings many of the scientists who have been housed in different buildings - UCSF's Parnassus Heights and Mount Zion sites - under one roof, where they can better collaborate and build on each other's work.

Patients won't be seen at the new building. They will continue to be seen at UCSF's cancer center at Mount Zion. The new center is only for researchers, so it's filled with lab space and equipment and computers - the stuff they need to figure out the mechanics of how cancer cells go wrong and what to do to stop them from replicating out of control. It's also modern and airy, with terraced floors and communal areas.

But Frank McCormick, director of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, said it's not about the building.

"It's about people," said McCormick, a molecular biologist and cancer researcher. "The labs are all about the interaction between people and the building just optimizes that. ... We see ourselves as one interactive community, tackling problems by sharing our ideas. That's what this building is all about."

Take Dr. Bill Weiss, a UCSF neurology professor who specializes in experimental therapeutics, and Kevan Shokat, a cellular and molecular pharmacologist.

The two have worked together for eight years and have identified proteins that provide the key to developing molecularly targeted brain tumor therapies. But, until last week, they have never worked in the same place.

"Today is the first day I'm actually on the same campus as Bill," Shokat said, as he explained the discoveries expected to be the basis of clinical trials. "I don't have to hear the results over the phone. I can come over and see."

More than 200 researchers have started working in the building, which will eventually house about 400 faculty and staff.

The nearly 164,000-square-foot, five-story building, named after San Francisco native Helen Diller, who along with her husband contributed $35 million to build the center, is part of a larger plan for the UCSF Mission Bay campus. UCSF plans to open a 289-bed specialty hospital for cancer patients in 2014. The new hospital would foster a more direct connection between patient care and science, allowing clinicians and researchers to work with patients on the same campus.

The research building gives UCSF's brain tumor and prostate cancer groups dedicated new laboratory space for the first time. General cancer researchers will also work in the building, although researchers in breast oncology and some other groups will remain at Mount Zion on Divisadero Street.

Mark Cole, deputy executive director of the National Brain Tumor Society, is excited that the new building could foster brain cancer research.

"UCSF is already one of the top research facilities in the country and this just adds to that. We're lucky to have their work in San Francisco," Cole said from the group's San Francisco offices. "It offers more hope to the folks who have this devastating disease."

Dr. Peter Carroll, co-director of urologic cancer at UCSF's cancer center and chairman of the urology department, said patients will benefit from the new research building because scientists will be able to more quickly develop targeted cancer therapies.

"Patients want more rapid discovery," he said. "They're simply unwilling, and unable, to wait."

With the opening of the Diller building at 1450 Third St., the Mission Bay campus now has four research buildings, a community center and four residential buildings.

More coverage

To learn more about the Helen Diller Family Cancer Research Building, see:

-- A profile of Helen Diller in Monday Datebook.

-- Columnist John King's take on the Diller building in Tuesday Datebook.

[BTinSF]

Originally Posted by KVNBKLYN

Thanks for the very comprehensive update!

How many parking garages does this neighborhood need? What ever happened to transit oriented development?

This is going to be a medical/biotech complex with staff and students from all over the Bay Area, including many places (like Marin, parts of the East Bay and parts of the Peninsula) where transit is minimal. It does have good transit connections (Muni and CalTrain) but a lot of users, especially from outside the city, will have to drive there.

Also, while the buildings you see are mostly for research, across 16th St will be the new hospital. Many of the patients there will need to be driven to Mission Bay. Imagine you've just had some chemotherapy or been released after heart bypass surgery. You are not going to want to jump on transit to get home. Also, there may have to be a good deal of movement back and forth between the Parnassus campus, the Mt. Zion Campus (until the clinical cancer clinic moves) and Mission Bay. While there is a rail transit connection between Parnassus and Mission Bay, it's a long trip--most time-pressed people will likely use a UC shuttle or drive.

[timbad]

on my wander through the neighborhood today, I did get a few shots of Mission Walk, the (Bridge) affordable housing project recently unwrapped on two parcels: one between the creek promenade and Berry St, the other across Berry, between it and the freeway off-ramp. all these photos are of the former parcel because of lighting angles, but they both look very similar.

the view from across the creek:



the view from the promenade:



the view looking west on Berry (neighbor Edgewater in the distance):



looking east on Berry:



I have to say that I mostly like how these are turning out. certainly nothing fancy, and a little boxy-looking from across the creek, but they look better than my memory of the renderings. and I like the splash of color and the way the façade along Berry is broken up.

[timbad]

also on my walk yesterday I noticed that they had begun planting a little greenery around the sidewalk benches along Fourth. I really think this is a nice touch; I'm digging the aesthetics - it's just a shame it will be a mostly wasted touch for who knows how long until Fourth starts getting its lining of residents.

looking south:



looking north:



also notice the sidewalk bulb-outs at the crosswalk. it seems that the intention is for Fourth to be a mostly calmed street.

[WildCowboy]

John King on UCSF's Diller Building. I obviously haven't seen the finished product except in pictures, but I saw enough of it under construction and in the drawings to get a feel for what it's like, and he makes excellent points.

Unfortunately for UCSF, the combination of no basements (meaning tons of mechanical stuff on the first floors of most buildings), the need for controlled access due to the nature of the buildings, and "community" demands regarding height makes for boxy-looking buildings that are awfully unfriendly at the pedestrian level. But the insides are where many of these buildings really shine.

UCSF's Diller Building better inside than out
John King
Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Looking at the newest piece of UCSF Mission Bay, the Helen Diller Family Cancer Research Building, I'm reminded of an offhand comment by a local architect who specializes in institutional work. He described his field as one where "architecture" is 2 inches thick - the skin wrapped around what really counts, the research and laboratory space inside.

A perspective that Rafael Vinoly, who designed the Diller Building, most emphatically does not share.

"If you are willing to take the position that the 2 inches of the facade is your only concern, you might as well quit," says the Uruguay-born architect. "The 2 inches are the pits. Who cares?"

Vinoly is best known as a leader of the team that in 2003 finished second to Daniel Libeskind in the design competition to map the future of the 16 acres where the World Trade Center once stood - a rebuilding effort that since has proceeded about as smoothly as the search for Osama bin Laden.

But he also presides over a large firm that makes lab buildings something of a trademark. This includes the five-story, 82-foot-high structure on Third Street at the north edge of the UCSF Mission Bay campus.

near success

The Diller Building is the face that UCSF presents to people heading south from downtown. And even though the university's logo is carved into its base, the newcomer shows the difficulty of creating institutional facilities that succeed for their users and have a neighborly feel.

Of the four lab buildings so far, Vinoly's comes closest to success on both counts.

The cancer center reads almost as two adjacent boxes: a vertical piece clad in travertine stone and a longer section wrapped in silvery steel facing north. The two forms meet above a glassy lobby that connects Third Street to a plaza on the west, where another lab building opens next year.

The travertine-clad south wall rises straight from the sidewalk. At the other end, the structure steps down toward a future park - a six-block east-west strip that planners envision as common ground merging the residential north of Mission Bay with the medical world to the south.

Don't count on it.

The ground-floor space facing the future park doesn't beckon neighbors with shops or a cafe. Instead, there's a metal grill that hides boilers, generators and the like.

This is the equipment that most lab buildings stuff into basements. Because Mission Bay is soupy landfill, that's not an option - so the loading docks and mechanical systems fill nearly the entire first floor.

Vinoly does what he can to make the structure less monolithic. The southern wall has metal sun shades that snap out from each band of windows, adding shadow and depth. Along Third Street, the travertine is cut by vertical slits filled with opaque glass; above the base, floors cantilever out just enough to make the building a stack of shapes rather than One Big Box.

Alas, blank walls are still blank walls.

"We used more refined materials to try and hide the activities inside," Vinoly says as we walk alongside the loading docks. "It's hard to imagine you could have a storefront condition."

Another "condition" faced by Vinoly and other UCSF architects is that the campus conforms to the grid of streets and blocks already set in place for Mission Bay.

It's a commendable effort to make the redevelopment district feel like an evolving part of the city. But the scale of research facilities essentially means one or two buildings per block, all conforming to the 85-foot-height limit that UCSF has placed on itself (ventilation shafts can climb higher).

echnical dimensions

When I comment that the plan seems at odds with the technical dimensions required by many lab buildings, Vinoly shakes his head.

"Isn't it? Don't make me talk about it," he says. "You're working against something as opposed to being encouraged by something."

Step through the door, and the scale shifts from imposing to intimate.

Imagine a rectangle formed two L's slid against each other, the space in the middle devoted to an atrium with stairways cascading back and forth. One L contains rows of lab tables; the other holds offices.

The atrium has an airy feel, with light streaming in from above and the north - where outdoor terraces on three floors offer postcard-worthy panoramas. One terrace sits behind a glassed-in passageway, a nice buffer against afternoon winds.

To Vinoly, this is where "architecture" kicks in.

"One of the most difficult things in this building type is to convince clients that 'architecture' is not a luxury," he explains. "That's why I like to meet with the scientists themselves ... They're interested in how they can foster connections."

Inside, Vinoly succeeds. Connections exist. Outside, UCSF and similar institutions still have a long way to go.

[peanut gallery]

timbad - Looks great! Well, other than the chain-link fences.

[BTinSF]

UCSF Opens New Cancer Research Building



UCSF celebrated the opening of its brand new Helen Diller Family Cancer Research Building yesterday afternoon. It's pretty much as noble a project as you'd expect from the name: studying various forms of cancer, the Mission Bay building will more than double UCSF's lab space. It is, to put it mildly, a very good thing.

But the building's buzz isn't limited to the medical field: we're seeing a lot of chatter around its design. The building features two interlocking L-shapes; one with office space, the other with lab space. The idea was to foster collaboration and cross-pollination of ideas by bringing people together; and to that end, Rafael Viñoly Architects made extensive use of glass so you're always aware of the people around you. In particular, the atrium looks like a lovely place to meetup and talk about science (not the evil kind please).

Other upcoming projects for the firm include the airy-looking New Stanford Hospital in, you guessed it, Stanford.

But if we can be just a bit of a party-pooper for a moment, we'd like to point out what seems like a disappointing design aspect: virtually no glass at ground level. Pedestrians on the sidewalk will encounter a neighborhood-killing blank brick wall. We suppose the designers must've had their reasons, but it seems a shame for building that champions human interaction to erect barriers between itself and the public.

Source: http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2009/0...eader_comments

[peanut gallery]

Originally Posted by CurbedSF

We suppose the designers must've had their reasons

Which are identified in the John King article WildCowboy posted.

[timbad]

just a quick update from recent wanderings...

just about all the perforated panels have been installed on the large parking garage behind Pfizer (the south side seems like it will feature some other treatment; the scaffolding is still up there), and a few days ago it revealed some fanciness on its northeast corner:



I am rather impressed with the lengths they've gone to to spruce up both this garage and the one behind Gladstone (still no plantings there, but it can't be long now). it's not clear to me how visible this particular feature is going to be, seemingly tucked behind Pfizer and other Alexandria buildings.

the new street on this garage's south side (see earlier photo) has its base poured all the way to Third St, and has received at least its first coat of asphalt. the sidewalks are also filling in, with new (short) trees on Third.

the cardiovascular building (background) is getting its glass (Strata foreground)!



it does catch the light well:



I'm kinda liking it the way it is and am wondering if more glass will seem like too much. should know in a few days!

the construction taking place on the south side of the creek near the future roundabout is indeed sewer/water pumping infrastructure. this would appear to be the pumping station (with 1500 Owens preening in the background, and some not-long-for-this-world overhead powerlines):



a random shot of the sports courts under the freeway, taken from 4th (top) floor inside the housing development at the end of Berry St:



and last, just an observation: the other day I had a rare chance to make the rounds in MB during 'business hours', and noticed that, even with all the slowdown in new development, one was never out of earshot of some sort of construction. we'll see if that's still the case in 6 months, but for now at least one doesn't get the feel on the ground that we've lost momentum.

[timbad]

and I almost forgot: for about the past year, it seems, about two lanes' worth of Terry Francois Blvd, which runs along the eastern edge of MB in front of the Old Navy building and adjacent new (unoccupied) office building, has been blocked off to traffic. heavy digging equipment was parked there, but with little or no evidence that anything was actually happening. this last week, the stretch finally sprang to life, and they've poured a new base for those two lanes along the west side of the street, as well as the base for the easternmost block of South Commons (which had been left as dirt after the construction of the office building there). so, it's a minor thing, but another little chapter in the MB story looks finally to be closing.

note that this is the portion of Terry Francois that had already been realigned, straightened and brought inland to make room for bayfront open space. south of this stretch it still runs curved right up along the Bay, waiting to be pulled taut (no evidence this is imminent).

[WildCowboy]

Thanks for the shots, timbad. The Pfizer/Old Navy garage is looking pretty good...I really like the funky element for the stairwell. I'm still reserving judgement on the metal panels, but I like them better than I did before, and they're interesting at the very least. Still can't quite decide whether they look "leafy" as intended or just splotchy with dirt.

Loving the glass on UCSF's cardiovascular building so far. Reminiscent of 1500 Owens' use of varying glass colors, but enough different that it stays fresh. Here's hoping the rest of the building turns out well, as the façade is broken up into several different elements.

Nice to see South Street getting there and Terry Francois finally nearing reopening. Would really like to see them complete the realignment of Terry Francois to make the straight run past Old Navy down to Fibrogen as you say, but that's likely several years off. Probably not until Alexandria gets around to tackling 600 and 650 Terry Francois, which will likely be awhile since they're focused on the West and North campuses for now.

Also glad to see that block of South Commons getting done. It actually had been previously paved but got horribly chewed up during construction of that building, so they ripped it out late last year, did some more work under there, and are now putting it back together.

[timbad]

Originally Posted by WildCowboy

Also glad to see that block of South Commons getting done. It actually had been previously paved but got horribly chewed up during construction of that building, so they ripped it out late last year, did some more work under there, and are now putting it back together.

thanks for mentioning this, WildCowboy; this is something I've been meaning to comment on for a while.

the same thing (1. construct and pave street, 2. develop adjoining parcel and chew up recently constructed street, 3. rip out remains of chewed up street and re-do) is also happening in front of the Pfizer building. I'm afraid this is a scenario we may see numerous times in MB, since the streets generally seem to go in before most of the development. seems silly, and, worse, really wasteful. anyone know if there's a better way to do this, or why not?

[timbad]

Originally Posted by timbad

... this last week, the stretch finally sprang to life, and they've poured a new base for those two lanes along the west side of the street, as well as the base for the easternmost block of South Commons

btw, does anyone feel that pics of things like street-base pourings are useful or interesting, when accompanying text descriptions? I often have such pics because I am a dork and take them, but I don't always post, thinking that people wouldn't feel the need for them. please let me know if I'm wrong!

[KVNBKLYN]

I spotted this recent aerial photo of the Mission Bay area on Flickr taken in early June.

From Transit Nerds on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/theover...re/3650000104/:

[peanut gallery]

timbad - thanks for all the great updates. Please post any photos you have. I find it all interesting. And if anyone doesn't, it's easy enough for them to skip to something they do find interesting.

KVNBKLN - that aerial highlights how much there is yet to build in MB. The Seawall lot alone will be a huge development.

[Gordo]

Originally Posted by timbad

btw, does anyone feel that pics of things like street-base pourings are useful or interesting, when accompanying text descriptions? I often have such pics because I am a dork and take them, but I don't always post, thinking that people wouldn't feel the need for them. please let me know if I'm wrong!

Like pg, I pretty much find all of it interesting, though I might not always post a comment on it. Thanks a lot for all of the photos!

[AndrewK]

that aerial shot is great. its crazy, i can pick out so many random warehouses and random patches of land ive thrown or attended parties at. i have a feeling those days wont last forever in this neck of town.

[BTinSF]

Friday, June 26, 2009
Mission Bay lures renters with new luxury housing
San Francisco Business Times - by J.K. Dineen and Blanca Torres

San Francisco may have 9 percent unemployment, but well-heeled young renters continue to move into Mission Bay in droves.

The neighborhood’s two new apartment complexes — the 260-unit AvalonBay III and Urban Housing Group’s 193-unit Strata — are both reporting better-than-expected leasing.

The Strata, the first development on the still-unopened new Fourth Street, has leased 103 apartments in 90 days. That is four apartments a month above leasing goals, although Urban Housing Group has slashed rents about 15 percent from original projections. Meanwhile, AvalonBay’s third Mission Bay building, which opened less than a month ago and held a grand opening party June 18, is 36 percent leased and 25 percent occupied, according to Meg Spriggs, who oversees Bay Area development for AvalonBay.

“We are pleased with the reaction we have gotten from the marketplace and feel we have validated that Phase III nicely complements our existing properties,” said Spriggs.

Rents range from $1,865 to $2,230 for a studio, $2,365 to $2,970 for a one bedroom and $2,950 to $4,480 for a two bedroom.

Source: http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/...wscolumn1.html