Lawrence Berkeley Lab Guest House
Berkeley, California

The Lawrence Berkeley Lab National Laboratory Guest House is a 3-story hotel located on a hillside site above the UC Berkeley campus. The facility serves visiting professors, researchers, and other guests of the Laboratory and the University. The 57-room Guest House includes six oversized suites with kitchenettes, a fitness room, and a two story lobby with sweeping views of the Bay from San Jose to Marin.

With W E Lyons Construction Company, LDA participated in a design-build proposal to provide no less than 54 Guest Rooms form a conceptual design by MacDonald Architects. In addition to proposing the lowest of 3 proposals, the Team was able to provide 3 additional guest rooms.

The Guest House is located among other Laboratory buildings on a hillside slope and is designed to take maximum advantage of the stunning Bay views to the west. The exterior is designed to blend characteristics of residential architecture with the high-tech and industrial aesthetics of the Laboratory campus context. The use of stucco and board siding alternating in the geometry of the building, muted earth-tone colors, exterior shades, and an arched roof with generous overhangs all contribute to the blended residential/high-tech aesthetic.

The Guest House is designed to achieve a LEED Silver rating and employs a bio-swale storm water management system, mechanical system with enhanced refrigerant management, natural sun shading, and automated lighting systems to help achieve this rating. The facility also includes 4 fully accessible guest rooms.