Dome

West end of building with cantilevered steel columns resting on concrete piers; Located on a sloping (60 degree slope) urban hillside on the UCSF Parnassus campus, the continuous structure navigates the uneven site, responding with a serpentine form that is supported by a system of steel space trusses. Designed to accommodate 125 individual biology laboratories for scientists studying stem-cell treatment, the building has one laboratory floor split into four levels, which step down half a storey at a time as they descend the hill. Each level is topped by an office cluster and a grass roof with wildflowers and plants. The $123 million building, paid for with state and private funds (but no federal funds), is an outgrowth of California’s effort to advance stem cell research in the face of more than a decade of restrictive federal funding policies. Source: Rafael Viñoly Architects [website]; http://www.rvapc.com/ (accessed 9/4/2015)