Submitted by PCL Construction Services

The new $129-million UCLA Terasaki Life Sciences Building features two wings with laboratories, offices, scholarly activity space, and building support spaces on five floors plus a basement vivarium. The 175,000-sq-ft structure is supported by a cast-in-place concrete frame with flat-slab floor decks.

This building, which is seeking LEED certification, is the new home of the Biological Sciences Department. A stated goal of the UCLA Terasaki Life Sciences Building Detailed Project Program is to “provide flexible facilities that anticipate changing future needs.” To help meet this goal, the building was designed with large, open laboratory spaces to allow multiple scientists to work in shared laboratories, uninterrupted by doors or walls.

The project consisted of two simple masses along Manning Avenue and Charles Young Drive. Each rectangular wing houses an efficient pattern of laboratory, support and office space of five above ground levels. The building’s concrete frame eliminates 10 ft in height, as compared to the common structural steel alternative and provides inherent vibration control.

The vivarium on the lower level includes holding rooms for rodents, birds, fish and other small animal species.

Project Team

Developer/Owner: UCLA Campus Capital Programs, Los Angeles
General Contractor: PCL Construction Services Inc., Los Angeles
Architect: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, Philadelphia
Civil Engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers, Los Angeles
Structural Engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers, Los Angeles
MEP Engineer: Syska Hennessy Group, San Diego