NASA AMES RESEARCH CENTER, Mountain View, CA
Project Director / Design Team Leader (concept design phase) with William McDonough + Partners
Conceived as a space station on earth, the 50,000-sf LEED-Platinum, net-positive-energy “Sustainability Base” is an office building, a laboratory for emerging technologies, and “an evolving exemplar for the future of buildings,” according to NASA. Situated at the front entrance of the historic campus, the building follows a circular drive to create two gently arced workspaces suffused with daylight. The building achieves daylight autonomy 325 days of the year at a 65% energy reduction below standards. With several advanced energy systems, including photovoltaics and fuel cells, it produces 22% more energy than it needs to operate, at just 5-6% more cost than a conventional building. A steel exoskeleton creates a clear-span for uninterrupted workspace and doubles as a vine trellis. Thoroughly connected to the outdoors and heavily planted, the project draws on the latest biophilia research to create a living workplace that NASA calls “its latest mission on earth.”
AWARDS: Business Week / Architectural Record “Good Design is Good Business” Award, Leadership in Innovation Award, White House GreenGov Award, Merit Award (ENR), Best Green Project (GSA), Real Property Award for Green Innovation
PRESS: NPR, Forbes, USA Today, Fast Company, Huffington Post, Architectural Record, ArchDaily
“This is the way we’re going to have to build in the future.” —Steve Zornetzer, NASA Ames Research Center
Photos by César Rubio