A Biophilic Life Science Campus
by the Bay

The Shore at Sierra Point

LEED Gold

At the edge of the San Francisco Bay, The Shore at Sierra Point is designed as an active, 23-acre life science campus. Prioritizing the Bay and shoreline experience, the master plan strategically places the new buildings that follow the "wave" pattern of the bay with an optimized view and solar orientations. The campus is carefully planned for this unique bayfront environment, with a special focus on building massing, view corridors, wind patterns, water usage, and native landscape integration. These design strategies minimize the environmental footprint of the project, allowing the project to achieve LEED Gold certification.

“The successful outcome is realized with appropriate sustainable design solutions that perform efficiently and have minimal environmental impacts through its entire life cycle.”

‍-Reema Nagpal
Senior Sustainability Specialist

A Closer Look at Performance:
This life science campus is designed for excellent energy performance and exceeds the state's building energy efficiency standards, with these features:

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Whole building energy simulation to optimize building envelope and mechanical system design with an achievable energy-saving target for life science use
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High-performance glazing systems; multiple options were modeled in the design process to inform the glazing selection, daylight, and solar shading strategy
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High-efficiency HVAC (chillers, fan power, oversized cooling towers)
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Advanced building automation system and sequences
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High-efficiency LED lighting in the parking garage and site
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High-efficiency boilers and variable-speed pumps
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Exceptionally insulated envelope systems
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Core spaces have a low LPD (Lighting Power Density)
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Originally set to achieve LEED Silver, phases 2 and 3 of the campus have attained high Gold certification
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To further reduce the environmental and economic harms associated with fossil fuel energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, The Shore has added an onsite Solar PV system of 341.28 kW and is encouraging tenants to enroll in 100% carbon-free power generated from 100% renewable sources.
Aerial Image by Hathaway Dinwiddie

Amenities and Public Areas

Along with the on-site cafe, campus users can easily access ample green spaces, a fruit garden, an on-site gym and sports courts, and new retail spaces within walking distance. Further encouraging alternative modes of transit, the project is equipped with bike parking facilities at each building, along with a shuttle stop to take commuters to nearby Caltrain stations.
465 Mary high solar reflectance roof
Images of amenities showing the public areas as mentioned above
465 Mary entrance

Community and Ecology

The project provides direct access to the public San Francisco Bay Trail, which underwent a significant, 3.6-acre revitalization as a part of this project. Once a decrepit shoreline, the restored public access area is now heavily utilized, drawing in locals, runners, and life science workers. The project has added new pathways, view nodes, a bay-oriented amphitheater,  and native landscaping to enhance the shoreline experience. This bay-friendly, drought-tolerant focused approach to landscape design applies to the overall campus and reinforces its resilience and adaptability to changing climate conditions. Over 30% of the site area is dedicated open space for both building occupants and the public to enjoy.
465 Mary high solar reflectance roof
465 mary high performing sunshades

Well-being at The Shore

Designed specifically for life science use, each building has enhanced indoor air quality, with 100% outside air intake for laboratories and dedicated vent exhausts for fume hoods, increased ventilation for all interior spaces, and installation of MERV13 (or higher) air filters. Building entryway systems, environmental tobacco control, and the use of low-emitting materials also serve to protect indoor air quality and occupants’ health.

The slightly bent open floor plates of the buildings, along with the full-height glazing, allow over 75% of the interior area to be adequately daylit, with lux levels between 300 and 3000. The window walls, which have operable exterior shades, enhance connectivity to the outside, with uninterrupted view corridors of the landscaped open space, the waterfront, and San Bruno Mountain.
465 Mary native adaptive plants
465 Mary native adaptive plants
Images showing daylit interior spaces and outdoor green spaces.

Optimized Resources

The construction and demolition plan achieved an 85% diversion rate for Phase 1 and 75% for Phases 2 and 3. The Shore focused on using materials that meet the LEED sustainable sourcing and extraction criteria; as a result, 30% of the materials used on the project by cost are either bio-based, recycled, FSC certified, or regionally sourced and extracted. To reduce the embodied carbon impact from concrete, a minimum of 30% of cement was replaced with a cementitious material substitute to reduce the whole building life cycle impact by a minimum of 10% across several categories, including global warming potential.
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The project’s sustainability approach focuses on the big picture, as well as innovation on a finer scale. Seamlessly blending a life science campus with the natural bayfront, The Shore provides an inspirational workplace that will continue the region’s culture of discovery. The Shore’s waterfront campus has been fully leased to leading life science companies, including J&J and Celgene.

The Shore at Sierra Point LEED Gold

Optimized façade & highly efficient active systems design
349kw Rooftop Solar PV System at parking garage
Maximize indoor and outdoor water use reduction
Over 35% reduction in the energy costs compared to ASHRAE
Enhanced indoor air quality
Over 30% of the site area is dedicated open space
Over 30% of materials by value with regional and recycled content
Optimized access to daylight and quality views to the bay and mountains
Transportation Demand Management Infrastructure
© 2023
earth studio