Serenity Transplant.
The Terasaki Research Institute is a nonprofit organization founded by the late Dr. Paul Terasaki, a pioneer of modern organ transplant technology. House & Robertson acted as executive architects for the Institute’s new 15,500-sq.-ft. headquarters, completed in mid-2017 near the UCLA campus. Atelier Hitoshi Abe’s innovative design for this two-story-plus-basement facility, confined by taller buildings on two sides, brings natural light into the interior office spaces and flexible meeting areas. This was accomplished via two interior courtyards capped by translucent roofs constructed of tensioned cable structures clad with PTFE synthetic resin membranes, with polished chrome oculi at their centers. The existing historical front facade of cast-in-place concrete was updated with new finishes and a reconfigured storefront and custom-fabricated aluminum entry canopy.
According to architect Hitoshi Abe, Dr. Paul I. Terasaki, a scientist and philanthropist, loved three things: his Japanese heritage; the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), his alma mater and longtime employer; and his ground-breaking research on human tissue typing, a process critical to the success of organ transplants. The late doctor’s three passions come together in Abe’s newest project, the Terasaki Research Institute, a serene, inviting facility near UCLA’s campus that serves as the public face and headquarters of the namesake scientific organization.
