UC Berkeley and LBNL Plan Helios Energy Project

The University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are planning to construct the 160,000-gsf Helios Project. The facility will develop transformational energy alternatives to the United States' current reliance on fossil fuels through the research and development by UC Berkeley chemists, physicists, material scientists, and biologists. To meet this goal, a new facility is proposed for construction on the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory site. The design will allow flexible and cross-disciplinary spaces to foster interaction and collaboration of the scientist and engineers. The project will include chemical vapor deposition laboratories, cleanrooms, greenhouses, cold rooms, molecular and microbial biology labs, fermentation labs, high throughput screening facility, analytical facilities, and a 250-seat auditorium. The building is expected to meet LEED Platinum certification. The project architect is SmithGroup of San Francisco with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory design consultant.