UC Berkeley Constructs Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences

The University of California, Berkeley has selected contractor McCarthy to build the $160 million Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences. Accommodating research into the molecular basis for disease, the facility will focus on infectious diseases, gene regulation, stem cell biology, and neurodegenerative diseases. The project architect is Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership. Construction is slated to begin in 2008 and reach completion in 2011. The Center will be designed to accelerate and foster cutting-edge multidisciplinary research and teaching in molecular disease biology. The laboratory and lab support space are designed with a flexible layout that can easily respond to multidisciplinary research protocols and the evolving needs of modern research. The 200,000-gsf, five-story structure will house 30 research laboratories, a major new teaching lab, several lecture halls and seminar facilities, a brain imaging center, and biocontainment space. An animal laboratory and vivarium will be located on the basement level. A $78.6 million stem cell research facility will be located on two floors of the Li Ka Shing Center. Funded by $20.18 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the 59,600-gsf stem cell facility will house 12 laboratories.