Designed to nurture discoveries that will shape the biotech industry, the new Vantage Development offers a purposeful building life science campus to serve the region's academic, commercial, and industrial science and technology research institutions.
The Vantage campus opened in 2024 in the heart of the South San Francisco biotechnology corridor. It features one five-story and one six-story building, together totaling 342,000 square feet of state-of-the-art life science laboratory and office facilities. Both buildings provide flexible floor plans to enable tenants to adapt to their own needs and workspace configurations.
Design thinking
Vantage's architectural language is defined by its iconic sculptural massing and distinctive articulation, creating a prominent landmark at the campus's main intersection. The taller six-story building gracefully steps outward, with floors cantilevering towards the site's northeast corner, while the adjacent five-story structure subtly extends this modern aesthetic across the site, establishing a unified visual identity.
The campus's social heart is "The Hangar," a 40,000-square-foot amenity building. Its modern design, inspired by airplane hangars, pays homage to the area's rich industrial past and its pivotal role as the birthplace of biotech. This two-story building features a double-height, open lobby organized around a central monumental stair with informal seating, alongside a full-service rooftop bar, an eclectic food hall, conference spaces, and a fitness center, quickly becoming a popular gathering spot for the community.
The campus master plan emphasizes forging connections through its exterior spaces. A flowing pedestrian plaza integrates the buildings, fostering community by providing abundant areas for recreation and collaboration. This outdoor realm acts as a natural extension of the workplace, capable of hosting daily meetings, activities, and larger events. The design of exterior walls, composed of metal panel cladding with large glass openings, continues the architectural character while allowing for flexibility and seamless connection to these vital outdoor environments.
Optimized daylighting
The building's facades are a testament to integrated sustainable design, with exterior glazing color and reflectivity inspired by crystalline structures. As viewers move around the buildings, the façades appear to subtly shift from solid to clear, creating a dynamic visual experience.
Beyond aesthetics, this sophisticated glass shell, featuring articulated fins, frit patterns, and solid spandrels, is engineered to precisely maximize solar heat gain during winter months, minimize unwanted heat gain in the summer, and optimize daylight illumination deep onto the floor plate year-round. This intelligent facade system directly contributes to significantly reducing the energy loads on the HVAC system and the reliance on artificial lighting.
A holistic approach
Vantage Development demonstrates a strong commitment to sustainability through various certifications and a holistic approach to environmental performance. The 1.7 million-square-foot campus features six buildings, with the first three already achieving LEED Gold certification. Additionally, Buildings A and B are pursuing WELL Bronze certification for occupant health and Fitwel 1-star certification to promote healthy lifestyles. The project emphasizes low-carbon strategies, reflecting a dedication to environmental stewardship.
Material innovation
Vantage significantly reduced embodied carbon and environmental impact through careful material selection. A life-cycle assessment by Thornton Tomasetti showed reductions in Global Warming Potential (GWP): 7.8 percent for Building A, 5 percent for Building B, and 18 percent for the amenity building.
Key strategies included maximizing cementitious material replacements, with up to 30-70 percent replacement in concrete, and using low-impact steel reinforcement and eco-friendly PVC roof membranes like Sika Sarnafil.
Additionally, lower-impact glass-mat deck sheathing and materials with recycled content, such as rock wool insulation, were chosen. Efficient construction practices minimized waste and ensured long-term durability, enhancing the project's positive impact.
Water conservation
In terms of water conservation, Vantage adopts a forward-thinking approach that surpasses standard requirements. The campus achieves a notable 41 percent reduction in potable indoor water use through the exclusive specification of EPA WaterSense-certified fixtures. For outdoor water consumption, efficient irrigation systems combined with climate-responsive plant selection contribute to a substantial 75 percent reduction in outdoor potable water use.
A below-grade stormwater hydro-modification tank is also integrated to slow runoff, effectively protecting sensitive local habitats. Furthermore, the cooling towers for Buildings A and B are engineered for 10-cycle efficiency, drastically reducing potable water demand, ensuring water is actively managed as a sustainable resource within the campus ecosystem.
Flexibility
Vantage Development prioritizes future adaptability and flexibility in its design, ensuring long-term relevance in the evolving life science sector. The core laboratory and office spaces in the five-story and six-story buildings feature flexible floor plans that allow tenants to easily reconfigure their areas to meet changing research needs.
Key design elements, such as generous floor-to-floor heights, strategically placed ceiling-mounted outlets, and mobile lab benches, facilitate lab adaptability without requiring major renovations. This approach ensures the campus can accommodate new discoveries and provide pathways for growth for its tenants over the years.
Landscaping and ecological strategies
The campus landscape design is integral to its sustainability vision, fostering a symbiotic relationship between the built environment and the regional ecosystem. It intelligently weaves together circulation paths, gathering areas, and climate-responsive plantings to significantly enhance ecological resilience.
The campus actively supports biodiversity through its carefully curated plant palette, comprising 80 percent adaptive and 20 percent native species, notably including a 2,950-square-foot pollinator garden. This approach creates a vibrant and inviting outdoor environment and contributes to the local ecosystem, and reduces the long-term maintenance demands of the campus grounds.
