Construction has officially started on the new cancer research center within the Potrero Power Station redevelopment in San Francisco. Crews are now working on the seven-story life sciences space, which will include laboratory space and healthcare facilities, designed by world-renowned Herzog & de Meuron. Associate Capital is the project developer.
Potrero Power Station Block 2 updated cross-section, illustration by Herzog & de Meuron
Modified plans were published last September, showing the development will now feature eight floors, while still rising 130 feet tall. The structure will comprise 188,550 square feet of institutional healthcare space, 89,680 square feet of laboratory space, and 685 square feet of retail space. The retail will be located on the ground floor, next to a conference center. Parking will be included on-site for 55 bicycles. Approximately 190 parking stalls will be allocated for Block 2 within a district parking garage.
The project architect is Herzog & de Meuron, working in collaboration with executive architect Stantec. While the overall scheme has altered slightly since mid-2024, illustrations show a very similar design. The exterior will feature a gridded steel facade with floor-to-ceiling windows.
Potrero Power Station Block 2 pocket park, rendering by Herzog & de Meuron
Potrero Power Station Block 2 site map, illustration by Herzog & de Meuron
Potrero Power Station Block 15 office lobby turbine hall view, rendering by Herzog & de Meuron
Elsewhere within the Potrero Power Station masterplan, Herzog & de Meuron is responsible for helping draft plans with Adamson Associates for the adaptive reuse of Station A. While construction has not started, Station A is expected to become the narrative heart of the redevelopment. The preserved brick edifice will preserve the bare concrete turbine within a monumental lobby, capped by eight office floors with copper-toned metal sunshades.
Herzog & de Meuron is also responsible for designing another expansion of the UCSF medical space. Crews have been active for over a year now on the 15-story hospital building within the UCSF Parnassus Heights. The Swiss firm’s design is an attractive-if-unusual asymmetrical stepped tower wrapped in green terracotta.
Potrero Power Station aerial view with Block 2 outlined in white, rendering by Herzog & de Meuron
Potrero Power Station view from the bay, illustration by Herzog & de Meuron
Construction will span 1.15 acres, located across from the recently completed affordable housing project, known as the Sophie Maxwell Building.
The project, within a more ambitious masterplan by Associate Capital, aims to transform the former energy plant into a dense mixed-use neighborhood with 2,600 units of housing, 1.6 million square feet of office and lab space, retail, central public open space, and a 250-key hotel in the Unit 3 Power Block, connected by the 300-foot brick smokestack.
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This is cool and all, but why bother? By the time this MAGA/MAHA regime is done, if it ever is, the biomedical industry will have fled the country. It’s already well underway.