The University of California, Berkeley’s Innovation Zone complex is coming into shape.
The Bay Area school has unveiled plans for the second building in its two-building Innovation Zone, the San Francisco Business Times reported.
The North Building, at the corner of University and Oxford Streets west of the campus in Berkeley, is set to rise seven stories and span 169,000 square feet, according to the Business Times. The building’s design, development and construction costs will be covered by an unknown donor.
The two-building project, which will span 320,000 square feet across the two structures, was first announced in fall 2023 with designs for the Innovation Zone’s South Building revealed last May.
Research and entrepreneurial activity in genomics, materials science and life sciences will be housed in the North Building, per the Business Times. Wet labs, flexible scale-up space and an incubator facility for faculty and researchers will also be located in the North Building. The North Building is slated to house programs that collaborate with the Bakar ClimatEnginuity Hub, as well as the existing Innovative Genomics Institute Building.
On Wednesday, the UC Regents’ Finance and Capital Strategies Committee will vote on the scope and design of the project and accept the donor gift and environmental review. If approved, construction could start as soon as the second quarter next year with that phase lasting two years.
The South Building will house the ClimatEnginuity Hub, UC Berkeley announced last year. The five-story, 145,000-square-foot building will contain incubator and scale-up space for climate research like renewable energy, carbon capture and agricultural practices.
Demolition has already begun at the Innovation Zone site, previously home to University Hall, which previously housed the visitor center and various administrative offices, and other buildings.
The two-building complex will complement the school’s Bakar BioEnginuity Hub, a newly renovated facility in Woo Hon Fai Hall at 2625 Durant Avenue on the south side of campus, as well as the hub’s incubator, Bakar Labs. The facilities opened in 2021 and have since helped launch 38 Bay Area life sciences startups, collectively raising more than $380 million in investment and creating more than 300 jobs.
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