Barbara Lee Science and Allied Health Center at Merritt College

Oakland, CA

Perched on top of a hill with sweeping views of the San Francisco Bay, the Barbara Lee Science and Allied Health Center provides the next generation of students with a modern classroom setting on the Merritt College campus. Built into the side of the hill, the building is actually two separate structures, a two-story building with a partial basement and a four-story building, that accommodate the large grade change across the site. Sitting less than a mile from the Hayward Fault in the Oakland Hills, the seismic demands on the structure are among the highest anywhere in California. A main design feature to the project is a helical stair, designed to mimic a strand of DNA, that connects the 2^nd-4^th floors at a pedestrian bridge between the seismically separated wings of the building.