Helen Diller Anchor House, completed in the Fall of 2024, is a unique residential facility for UC Berkeley transfer students, many of whom are first-generation college students. This 450,000 square foot, 14 story building consists of 244 apartments (~772 beds) and a diverse range of amenities that enhance student life. The goal of the HDAH is to anchor the students during their short time at the University by fostering a sense of community and place.

BCV was charged with designing the formal Dining Room, Student Pantry, a teaching kitchen with a classroom for the Rausser School of Natural Resources, and two catering kitchens, one on the second level and one on the 13th adjacent to the exterior gathering space).

The 3,000 GSF dining room seats over 100 guests with a presentation area at the South end. The walls are clad in rich redwood veneer sourced from a legacy tree from the Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park. The redwood slat ceiling undulates and as it travels from the North to the South, improving acoustics and providing a visually interesting counterpoint to the more reserved lines of the walls, floor, and furnishings.

The 1,000 GSF student pantry is a gathering space for the students who live at the Helen Diller Anchor House. It features a large communal table, various study spaces such as counters and sofas, and a kitchen in which students can gather and cook a meal together.

The 1,600 GSF Teaching Kitchen was designed for the Rausser School of Natural Resources to support their courses designed to provide cooking and nutrition skills to students experiencing food insecurity. This kitchen includes 8 cooking stations as well as a classroom.

The catering areas are for functional support of catered events on the 13th floor. The 500 GSF area on Level 2 is where the food is prepped before being moved to the 500 GSF area on the 13th floor for staging adjacent to the event space. We worked closely with our consultant team to provide the proper equipment and work layout for the events described by the client.