Rebecca and John Moores Cancer Center, La Jolla

The $82-million Rebecca and John Moores UCSD Cancer Center, located on UCSD's East Campus near Thornton Hospital, consolidates outpatient services, research labs, clinical trials offices, cancer prevention programs, community outreach activities and more in a striking architectural addition to the campus.

Among its eye-catching architectural features are iridescent stainless-steel shingles that change color as the day progresses, a "flying bridge" stair in a three-story glass-fronted atrium lobby, and an interior courtyard with mature stands of bamboo, granite boulders, and a meandering dry creek bed. The 270,000-sq.-ft. facility comprises two structures: a three-story clinical service and administrative facility and a five-story research tower.

The project proved challenging due to its complex design and the scope of changes, many of which the client requested during construction.

"The McCarthy team added value to this project by being flexible and prepared to tackle any situation," said Charles Kaminski, senior architect at UCSD. "For example, when we decided to carve out a space from the existing construction to add an MRI unit, McCarthy pulled out all the stops to meet our requests and schedule constraints. McCarthy achieved the goal successfully, against all odds."

Building the structural concrete shear walls for the lab tower was also a challenge. The team had to develop special concrete placing procedures to prevent concrete segregation and cold joints.

Creating a space that was appealing to the public, patients, and researchers proved challenging. One of the primary goals of the project was to design the facility so that researchers and clinicians all would be located in one central location, thereby enhancing communication and interaction.

Another major challenge was integrating six different finishes into the facility's exterior: stainless steel metal shingles, plaster, metal panels, pre-cast concrete, stone, and curtain wall. To ensure that all six finishes would be waterproof, McCarthy built a complete exterior "mock-up" of the skin systems to perform tests on each skin type. The design team collaborated early in the project with the key skin subcontractors to ensure the materials would perform as designed.

Despite zero-hour changes and numerous challenges, the project team for McCarthy adhered to the original construction schedule, with minimal impact on the overall time line and budget constraints.

Owner's Comments:
"McCarthy pulled out all the stops to meet our requests and schedule constraints." -Charles Kaminski, senior architect, UC San Diego

Project Team

Owner: UC San Diego
Architect: Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership
General contractor: McCarthy Building Cos. Inc.
Engineering team :
Structural: KPFF Consulting (Los Angeles)
MEP: Affiliated Engineers W. Inc.
Civil: Pountney Consulting Group Inc.
Key subcontractors:
Sierra Pacific West Inc.(site work)
McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. (cast-in-place concrete)
Bannister Steel Inc. (structural steel)
Center Glass Co.
Weiss Sheet Metal
Standard Drywall Inc.
Day Star Industries (millwork/casework)
R.M. Hasson (painting)
HPS Mechanical Inc. (plumbing)
A.O. Reed & Co. (HVAC)
Dynalectric Co.
Schmidt Fire Protection
ISEC Inc. (lab casework/equipment)

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