$20M Facility at UCI Winding Up

IRVINE, CA-More than two years of construction on a $20-million project here have come to an end, as the Robert R. Sprague Family Foundation Hall has recently been completed. The building, which was started in spring 2000, is part of the University of California, Irvine campus’ College of Medicine.

Encompassing 68,000 sf, the project is the second major facility to be built within the UC Irvine Biomedical Research Center. It includes 36,000 sf of open laboratory and support space, in addition to the state’s only Cancer Genetic Network Center. Sprague Hall also contains 6,000 sf of space for offices, as well as teaching facilities and a bio-containment lab.

Designed by Los Angeles-based Leo A. Daly and built by the Lakewood Division of Nielsen Dillingham Builders Inc., the concrete facility features an atrium and clerestory windows. In addition, it has a utility tunnel that connects the building to the existing William J. Gillespie Neuroscience Research Facility.

Sprague Hall was partially funded by The Irvine Co., which, as part of a land-lease arrangement, contributed $3 million toward the development of both this project and the Neuroscience Research Facility. Allen Chao, the founder of Corona-based Watson Pharmaceuticals, gave $8.1 million to be divided between the construction of Sprague Hall and the support of research programs that will take place here. Meanwhile, Costa Mesa residents Robert and Margaret Sprague pledged $5 million