丨Perkins Eastman

UC Davis Coffee Center

Davis, CA

An existing lab building gets a new jolt as the nation’s first state-of-the-art coffee center.

Already renowned for its programs in the science of beer and wine, UC Davis can add another taste-full pursuit: coffee. Perkins Eastman helped the university’s College of Engineering transform a former hydrogen fuel cell lab into the UC Davis Coffee Center, the first university center in the country dedicated to the scientific study of coffee. The design team embraced a tight budget by re-envisioning the existing lab structure as an “edgy, warehouse art gallery, tearing out dropped-tile ceilings but leaving the space’s industrial character intact,” according to a profile on the center by the local

Sactown

magazine.

The building is nestled into a verdant section of campus, across Putah Creek from the UC Davis Arboretum and a short walk from the Robert Mondavi Institute of Wine and Food Science. Glass garage doors offer broad views across a landscape of gardens and accessible outdoor gathering areas. The interior is designed to support pre- and post-harvest coffee research. It includes space for experimental green bean storage; a roastery; a tasting room; office and conference facilities; and laboratories for brewing, sensory and cupping experiments, and chemistry and analysis.

Project Facts

Client:

University of California at Davis

Size:

7,000 sf

Services:

Architecture, Modernization, Renovation

Project Partner:

Broward Builders

Sustainability:

LEED Silver Certified

Practice Areas:

College + University, Science + Technology

Region:

United States

Studios:

Oakland

News

UC Davis turns to the (deliciously) dark side, Sactown magazine, May-June 2024

"Go inside UC Davis’ new one-of-a-kind coffee research center: ‘It’s really fascinating’," Sacramento Bee, Sep. 19, 2024

"Inside the New UC Davis Coffee Center," Sprudge, Sep. 9, 2024

"UC Davis opens first coffee-dedicated research centre in the US," Weekly Coffee Dose, May 28, 2024

Announcement: UC Davis Coffee Center Opens, University of California at Davis