UC Berkeley Residence Halls & Bike Sheds

For this $300 million renovation of two popular semi-public plazas at UC Berkeley, GLS was responsible for all site work on both blocks, including entry passages, street frontages, the central plazas, light courts at the basement level, furnishings, lighting, and highly detailed, multifunctional bike sheds.

Along the perimeter of each courtyard, GLS preserved a number of stone walls that were part of Lawrence Halprin’s original design from 1960. The project required the selective demolition of buildings and utilities over two separate blocks, the seismic upgrade of basement structures supporting a new plaza landscape, and the insertion of four new residential buildings and associated utilities. GLS stayed on a fast-track schedule while working around students living in existing residence halls. To keep those buildings in operation during construction, GLS first produced an early working drawing package for $3,000,000 in construction costs addressing the re-routing of circulation and utilities.