San Joaquin County, Public Health Services & Biosafety Lab

For over 50 years, San Joaquin County’s Public Health Services (PHS) has been providing various health-related programs and testing for its residents in the same 60-year-old building. In dire need of a modern replacement, we designed a new facility for PHS with a modern work environment, improving customer service and operational efficiencies. The new building also allows a greater flexibility for staffing fluctuations in response to County population increases, along with expected legislative and economic changes over the next 25 years. This new facility includes offices, client service areas, and a BSL-2 Lab space.

Inside the offices, working environments are organized around a central entry space serving as the activity hub for both the public and staff. The entry is designed to provide intuitive wayfinding enabling the public to efficiently locate their service point. The single-story structure utilizes skylights throughout, as well as large expanses of glazing in offices providing ample daylighting for staff. Large overhangs at the public entry and outdoor staff lounges provide an extension of the interior environment to the outdoors.

The new Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2) Lab is designed in conformance with requirements per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for precautions and contamination isolation. General laboratory spaces were developed with an open floor plan maximizing efficiency, visibility, and natural light.

This facility’s design not only integrates various County programs and their unique requirements under one roof, but also provides an efficient, sustainable, and flexible facility for another 60+ years of continuous use.