A Thoughtful Expansion of the Salk Campus

Following a rigorous design competition, HDR’s design concept was selected for an addition bordering the east side of the campus, which runs adjacent to North Torrey Pines Road. 

Reimagining the future of the Salk Institute, this winning design of the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Science and Technology Center expands and modernizes Louis Kahn’s original Salk Institute to reinvigorate the campus. The timeless design is sited to respect the geometry of the original Salk Institute, while creating a new campus front door.

A Design that Encourages Collaboration, Contemplation

An open and transparent central gathering hall bisects the two-story linear building where groundbreaking science is conducted: research labs, private studies, and collaboration areas. The building chassis stretches across the landscape; its horizontal form creates the central hall and allows for material expression of collaboration zones and individual studies across the west and east façades — reinforcing Kahn’s ideas about the importance of interdisciplinary interaction and individual contemplation.  

Key features include: 

• Open, flexible labs on each floor surrounded by private studies, collaboration nodes and an open workplace
• Meeting rooms that connect to the laboratories to accommodate a wide range of activities 
• Panels that alternate between glass and teak to bring warmth to the building 
• The north and south elevations include concrete panels with Corten steel louvers at the mechanical rooms.  
• Outdoor spaces at each of the four corners of the building provide views of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding gardens 

Labs Designed to Evolve

The facility revitalizes Kahn’s innovative approach to laboratory design, offering a versatile research environment designed to grow as the research dictates.  The labs can flex to a limitless number of lab typologies—from heavy wet lab and core technologies to open, general labs and computational labs —  allowing scientists to work with greater efficiency and interdisciplinary synergy.  

Designed in collaboration as a team, with HDR as concept designer, exterior designer and laboratory consultant, and WRNS Studio as prime architect and interior designer.