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David Hochschild of the California Energy Commission

Launch of Bakar ClimatEnginuity Hub Unites UC Berkeley Climate Tech Community

"Berkeley's different from Las Vegas: what starts here does not end here," said Dan Kammen, a UC Berkeley professor of energy and founding director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory, in his keynote address at the symposium to launch the Bakar ClimatEnginuity Hub (BCH), Berkeley's innovation center and incubator for climate technology. BCH will accelerate the commercialization of new technologies, sending them forth to be adopted by humanity across the world as we adapt to and combat climate change. Read post
The Bakar ClimatEnginuity Hub, expected to open during the 2027-2028 academic year, will provide a home for entrepreneurs in the burgeoning field of climate technology. The donor-funded facility will be located on the west side of campus at the site currently occupied by University Hall. Rendering by Gensler

Bakar Climate Tech Incubator Recruiting Director of BD & Partnerships

The Director of Business Development and Partnerships of BCH will be responsible for developing highly innovative new programs and partnerships with local, national and international public and private entities to create and support a vibrant ecosystem that accelerates startup companies focused on the translation of scientific discoveries into solutions in the energy and climate tech marketplace. Read post
Gino Segre at Bakar Labs

‘Innovation Zone’ Is Coming to Downtown Berkeley

“You can see the ecosystem here is just flourishing and becoming … even bigger and bigger, [or] as I say, a flywheel for innovation and startups,” Gino Segre, managing director of Bakar Labs, told the Business Times. “The campus itself is dedicating more real estate and more of its attention to creating these kinds of programs over time – and it’s going to be more interdisciplinary too.” Segre said Bakar Labs could have a partnership with the new addition to campus, though specifics are not yet known. Read post
A bench along one of BBH's custom angled exterior concrete walls

Retrofitting a Classic – Bakar BioEnginuity Hub

Every aspect of our building is innovative! “What we ended up with was this really cool system of ‘stealth’ looking concrete walls,” Price explains. “They had extreme angles – from 45 degrees to 60 degrees, that were top-cast finished with an EcoSand final finish.” Being large stretches of concrete, there was also concern about skateboarders, so a custom stainless-steel system of skateboard deterrence was designed to replicate the human genome and installed on the face of the battered walls. Read post
Photo of the Bakar Labs lobby, skylight, and part of the main office floor

BBH Wins 2022 Preservation Design Award for Rehabilitation

The Bakar BioEnginuity Hub is a winner for the 2022 Preservation Design Award for Rehabilitation. Award recipients are selected by a jury of top professionals in the fields of architecture, engineering, planning, and history, as well as renowned architecture critics and journalists. Read post
External photo of BBH by Bruce Damonte

Brutalist Former Berkeley Art Museum Transformed Into Modern Life Science Lab

Seismic performance, water intrusion, and acoustic performance, were addressed while bringing the building up to code. Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing infrastructure was overhauled, including the replacement of existing gas service with all-electric systems. This allowed the project to achieve low EUI, operational carbon neutrality, and Net-Zero HVAC water-use, as well as to meet LEED Gold requirements. Read post
Large group of people mingling outside BBH

Berkeley’s Bakar BioEnginuity Hub Opens Its Doors

“We are going to be an incredible model for the country on how to translate technologies to benefit society. Our tenant companies are solving important challenges in medicine and the environment, at the same time as creating high-value jobs,” said BBH Director David Schaffer. “In addition, we at BBH and QB3 are launching undergraduate and graduate training programs with Bakar Labs companies to help train the future workforce of California.” Read post
Aerial view of BBH

Bakar BioEnginuity Hub Raises the Bar for Urban Adaptive Reuse Projects

“The original building structural design is kind of a house of cards,” says Allen Nudel, director of business strategy at Forell/Elsesser who led the structural team. “It’s an awe-inspiring and beautiful icon of innovation, and one of the most architecturally complicated structures in the Bay Area—maybe in the entire western United States. It was by far the most difficult seismic retrofit we’ve ever done.” Read post
A view of the skylights at BBH

A Brutalist Icon in Berkeley Is Reborn as a Bioresearch Hub

“I still can’t believe that I was able to work on the building, be part of the legacy,” said Kevin Koblik, project manager for MBH Architects, the firm that headed the conversion effort. “It was a challenge start to finish, but in all the right ways.” Read post
An interior view of BBH's skylights

A First Look Inside UC Berkeley’s Bakar BioEnginuity Hub

“We always intended Bakar Labs to have a ‘double bottom line,’ a responsibility to select and support startups that have a strong chance of market success and are developing solutions to make the world a better place,” said Regis Kelly, director of Bakar Labs and QB3 executive director. Read post