Barbara Lee Science and Allied Health Center at Merritt College

Oakland, CA

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. The seismic demands on the structure are among the highest anywhere in California due to its hillside location that sits less than a mile from the Hayward Fault.

To accommodate the high seismicity, the team designed the center as two seismically separate structures: a two-story building with a partial basement, and a four-story building that accommodates the large grade change across the site. The walls of the basement were designed to be cantilevered so as not to deliver load to the steel super structure. Other innovative engineering considerations included a unique approach to the architectural, helical staircase designed to mimic a strand of DNA. The approach involved suspending the staircase from above and connecting it to a pedestrian walkway that bridges the two seismically separate structures, hiding a highly technical solution within an architectural highlight.