Role: Lead designer at Mark Cavagnero Associates
Phase: Concept to Schematic Design
Client: UCSF

The first center to integrate the research and treatment of neuroscience and psychiatry, the Weill Neurosciences Building challenges the traditional siloing of disciplines and institutions through a program that fuels connectivity and collaboration.

From the outset of the project, we were inspired by the incredible work that this building would support. We felt that this was a building of hope, expressive of the program’s potential as a forward-thinking catalyst for progress.

Architecturally the building is conceived as a pair of programmatically driven wings, united around a public atrium which includes the public and social spaces. Wrapped with an architectural screen demonstrativeof the precision science within, the four-story research volume is lifted above a transparent two-story clinical volume. Natural materials seek to create a warm, serene space conducive to care. This clear and concise massing is informed by the site (the campus) to create a dynamic and welcoming environment illuminated and connected to nature.