In 2010, UC Berkeley engaged a team led by WRT to develop a conceptual master plan for the University’s Richmond Field Station properties. Patrick Siegman led the transportation planning component, while a Principal at Nelson\Nygaard.
Since 1950, UC Berkeley has used the former industrial site for research – from earthquake shaking tables to advanced transportation tests – that could not be accommodated on Berkeley’s main campus.
The new master plan re-envisions the 152-acre field station as a dense, lively, mixed-use campus. The program invites University, private-sector, and non-profit research and development enterprises to share a remarkable waterfront district. Research space, labs, classrooms, and a hotel will help establish an environment that supports team science. Along the shore, restored wetlands, the Bay Trail, and views of downtown San Francisco and the Golden Gate offer a respite from the bustle of city life. With UC Berkeley’s internationally renowned scholars anchoring the site, the campus has the potential to catalyze the ongoing revitalization of the Richmond waterfront.
To support this vision, Patrick Siegman developed a transportation strategy to link the site to UC Berkeley’s main campus and regional transportation hubs. A transit access plan provides frequent shuttles to BART, student housing, and the main campus. A bicycle and pedestrian plan complements it. A transportation demand management strategy improves employee transportation choices, and a shared parking management and pricing plan minimizes vehicle trips, pollution, and the need for costly parking construction. The strategy provides essential access, while advancing the University’s sustainability goals.
The plan helped demonstrate the potential of the site to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In January 2012, the renowned laboratory, which has been associated with more than a dozen Nobel prizes, selected the site as its preferred location for its second campus.
Image courtesy of UC Berkeley