Enriching education with engaging design

UC Law SF, formerly UC Hastings, has historically operated across multiple, disconnected buildings in San Francisco’s Civic Center neighborhood, with some facilities separated by busy streets. The university’s Long Range Campus Plan 3.0 calls for a phased approach to developing an improved, more cohesive campus. The first completed building in this plan is a state-of-the-art academic facility at 333 Golden Gate Avenue, called the Cotchett Law Center.

Designed by SOM, the six-story building fills an open space between two of the school’s existing buildings on Golden Gate Avenue to create a new heart of the campus. It replaces the institution’s academic facility at 198 McAllister Street, which is slated for eventual renovation and development into additional student housing.

The Cotchett Law Center features smart classrooms, conference rooms, and shared community spaces, such as a lounge and hub on the main floor for students, faculty, and alumni. It serves as the home base for the school’s more than 15 legal clinics, which combine theory and practice to provide a well-rounded, experiential education. A new outdoor quad is adjacent to the ground-floor hub, allowing interior and exterior spaces to serve complementary functions. Students can enter the building from the quad and from Golden Gate Avenue.

The building’s main floor and lobby are designed as comfortable and welcoming spaces that strengthen the school’s sense of community. The rooftop floor serves as a premier community event space, with views of City Hall and the San Francisco skyline.

A stair and bridge that encourage connection

SOM designed a cascading stair system that encourages students, faculty, and visitors to explore each floor of the building. Beginning at the lower level and extending to the rooftop, this “social stair” fosters conviviality while reducing reliance on elevators.

The stair ascends to a bridge that connects the Cotchett Law Center with Kane Hall—a building designed by SOM in the 1970s—creating a unified academic space at the upper levels. Just above ground level, a shared courtyard enhances circulation and fosters a dynamic, interconnected campus experience between two buildings that form the core of the UC Law SF campus.

Graphics and wayfinding enhance the building’s identity

Together with the architecture, SOM’s Graphics and Brand Studio designed a visual identity and environmental graphics for UC Law SF’s new building. The airy, light-filled lobby prominently displays the university’s new academic seal—a debossed logo rendered in white—which makes an understated counterpoint to a colorful, six-story graphic wall. This bold visual element follows the height of the main stair, with wayfinding cues woven into the graphic.

The palette melds the school’s new colors with those derived from an abstracted cross-section of San Francisco. These 600 unique colors reflect the visual strata of the city, beginning with the vivid blues of the UC Law SF brand and the surrounding bay on lower floors, before transitioning to hues that evoke the varied and vibrant colors of the neighborhood and its architecture. At the top levels, shades of light gray and blue evoke the sky and fog overhead.