Honorable Mention: American Architecture Awards 2023
Bioterra | San Diego - California | 2022

Architects: Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK)
General Contractor: McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.
Client: Longfellow

SIZE: 250,000 sq. ft.
SERVICES: Architecture, Interiors, Laboratory Planning, Programming and Design, Landscape Architecture, Planning and Entitlements, Sustainable Design
COMPLETION: 2023

Inspired by the arroyos, pines, and coastlines of Southern California, the Bioterra project grounds itself firmly in the surrounding ecological context, while simultaneously reaching forward to set a new standard for the scientific workplace environment. Nestled into a tight, triangular shaped site filled with local vegetation such as the Torrey Pine, the building massing is characterized by two pairs of slender, parallel wings that slip past one another on the NE axis of the site.

This articulated form and plan arrangement provides self-shading, glare reduction, and maximizes access to daylight and views. Projecting terraces line each floorplate, shading floors below and enabling an exceptional indoor-outdoor experience – expansive and serene, with dramatic views out to the surrounding arroyos and west toward the Pacific Ocean. Variegated tones of terra cotta tile featured on the façade echo the tones of the arroyos, wood-look panels wrapping the terrace edges reference the local Torrey Pine, metals respond to the rich colors found along the rocky coastline, and glazing reflects the many colors and moods of the sky.

PROJECT INFORMATION & DESIGN OPTIMIZATION

Bioterra is a new, signature speculative lab building in the Sorrento Mesa area of San Diego, CA. Designed for a tight, triangular shaped 4-acre site - the five level, 280,000 SF building sits on 3 levels of submerged parking, saving as much land area as possible for landscape and site amenities. The lab space is designed to be flexible enough to accommodate one or up to four tenants per floor, with approximately 50% lab use, 50% office. Amenities include a fitness center, signature restaurant, and a conference suite, all three of which open to an expansive rooftop terrace.

Targeting LEED Gold and Fitwel 1 Star, the all-electric, high performance building features rooftop solar panels, net zero irrigation, locally sourced and inspired materials, high performance glazing, and energy efficient HVAC systems.

Integrated Design: The 15’ typical floor-to-floor height is maximized by integrating the structural and mechanical design – for instance, in the narrow bays of 18’, we have shallower beam depths, so we have major mechanical shafts running vertically in those bays with primary ductwork moving along in that bay with more available ceiling space.

Core Design: The core is laid out efficiently at the center of the building to achieve maximum efficiency in terms of tenant access to passenger lifts, restrooms, service lifts, and egress stairs while creating porosity from one side of the building to the other for flexibility of tenant size and location.

Façade Design: The cantilevered balconies shade the façade, reducing solar heat gain. The large solid walls clad in terracotta and the 3’-6” spandrel zones at each floor help reduce the window-to-wall ratio, allowing for more insulation, increasing the thermal performance of the building.

Parking & Ideal Lab Design: Due to the importance of creating a highly efficient below grade parking structure that sits directly beneath the building, while also maintaining an ideal lab bay width above, the design utilized key strategies such as wide structural bays and columns that shift location from above grade to below grade.