ABSTRACT
Summary
The Hearst Field Annex (HFA) is a complex of four new, prefabricated steel buildings at the University of California at Berkeley intended to accommodate academic departments while their regular quarters undergo seismic upgrading. First designed to meet the needs of the College of Environmental Design (CED) and its three departments—Architecture, City and Regional Planning, and Landscape Architecture, the complex is intended to serve as a surge building for many different departments over the upcoming decades. The College occupied the buildings from 1998 to 2003. We conducted the POE in 2001.
The results indicate satisfaction among faculty and students in the College of Environmental Design with HFA as a temporary facility. Most users judged it as “effective” and “well organized,” but also saw the need for many improvements. We observed a tension between the desire for community, and the (usually frustrated) desire for privacy and territory. As a social space, the courtyard stood out as one of the most successful features of the complex. In contrast, wayfinding and climate control stood out as problems. These findings lead to recommendations for retrofitting HFA, improving Wurster Hall, and enhancing architecture departments elsewhere.
