Executive Summary

Purpose
This study of the South Scripps Neighborhood provides a long term plan for the replacement of obsolete and seismically deficient facilities and establishes a framework to accommodate an additional 80,000 Assignable Square Feet (ASF) of academic and support space.  Design Guidelines related to the neighborhood's open space, landscape and architectural form were prepared to assist future facility planners and designers in unifying and improving the functional and aesthetic use of this neighborhood.

The recommendations contained in this study have the wholehearted support of the Scripps community, as represented by the Planning Advisory Committee, which was specifically created to guide, supervise and approve the study.  The Marine Sciences Physical Planning Committee and the Campus Community Planning Committee also reviewed and approved the plan.

Program
This study evaluates the physical impacts of seven new structures, 100 spaces of new support parking and creation of new landscape (open space) areas.  Most buildings were constructed between 1933 and 1963, as a result the study area has many aging and obsolete facilities.  No research buildings have been built in the neighborhood since Hubbs Hall in 1975.  This neighborhood currently contains 235,808 ASF.  The proposed addition of 80,000 ASF will have a significant impact on the neighborhood because of the number of existing buildings that will be removed as well as those that will be added.

The largest program element involved in this study is the Ritter Replacement Facility (31,825 ASF), which replaces the south and east wings of Ritter Hall.  It should be noted also that the two remaining wings of Ritter Hall will be undergoing major renovation.  Following the detailed analysis of alternatives sites, the Planning Advisory Committee selected the open area directly east of Ritter Hall's North Wing as the preferred location for the replacement facility.  This location allows the south and east wings to remain in operation while the replacement facility is constructed, and doesn't require the immediate relocation of Sumner Auditorium.

Planning Principles
In recognition of South Scripps' unique geography, the plan sets a series of principles to guide the implementation of the study's recommendations.  Among them are the following:

• New buildings and landscape should reinforce and help clarify the unique qualities of the neighborhood's open space.
• Ocean and hillside views should be enhanced whereever possible, but be carefully constructed so as to induce dramatic as well as scenic appeal.
• New buildings should not overwhelm the natural topography, the bluffs in particular.

Development Sites
The plan proposes to consolidate the major new research facilities along a 'Building Corridor' running southward from the SIO Library to Sverdrup Hall, closely following the hillside topography.  Smaller facilities, such as the proposed Commons, would stand apart from the massing of the larger buildings and be closer to the bluffs like the earlier cottages.  This arrangement will keep large buildings away from the bluffs so as not to 'overwhelm' their scale and character.  It will also allow Old Scripps, the first labratory/office building built at Scripps and a symbol of UCSD's birthplace, to regain a dignified presence.

Generally, marine-biological related research programs occupy the northern portion of the neighborhood, while physical (geological, chemical and geophysical) sciences occupy the southern.  In the southern end are also proposed many of the neighborhood's administration and social facilities: the New Scripps Administration, Commons, new Sumner Auditorium, and the student's lounge.  These are envisioned as low-scale buildings clustered around an arrival court, helping to define an entrance into the neighborhood and improve visitor control.

Open Space
Placing larger, multi-story buildings away from the bluffs, forming the building corridor, helps reinforce the three existing north-south open space zones which flow through the neighborhood: an eastern rustic buffer of intorduced and native vegetation (trees and shrubs); a central collection of discrete garden spaces acting as entrance forecourts and protected gathering areas; and a western, open grassy coastal park inviting passive recreation uses and allowing the enjoyment of wide ocean views.  These zones would be linked by east-west circulation corridors, which would preserve views to the ocean from La Jolla Shores Drive and the higher elevations within and surrounding the campus.

One of the key features of the proposed open space system is the 'Scripps Green', a central gathering area framed by Old Ritter Hall to the north, the new Geochemistry building site to the east, and partly by Sverdrup Hall and the New Scripps Administration building site to the south.  This space is envisioned as a common area acting as a primary gathering/interaction area for all of SIO.  The space is open to the west, allowing Old Scripps to stand out in the landscape.

It should be noted that Sverdrup Park at the corner of La Jolla Shores Drive and El Paseo Grande will be preserved.  Further, the parking area adjacent to the bluffs would be relocated and replaced by open landscaped area.

Circulation and Parking
The study proposed to retain the existing pattern of vehicular and pedestrian circulation, concentrating parking on the south end to promote ease of access, greater security, and control for visitors and residents alike.  The proposed parking structure located south of Sverdrup Hall would contain three levels and would not exceed the existing elevation of Sverdrup Park.  Therefore, it would not block ocean views from adjacent resicdences.  Naga Way should be retained to be used more as a service access than as a primary neighborhood entrance.  

A key recommendation is the continuation of the Scripps Ladder, a pedestrian route, south of the SIO Library.  Two corridors for the ladder are proposed.  One along the hillside, another closer to the bluffs.  A number of vertical transition points are envisioned along the length of the ladder to facilitate access for persons with disabilities.  Many of these are proposed to be integrated with building circulation elements such as ramps and elevators.

2000 Plan Update
In June 2000, the original South Scripps Neighborhood Planning Study was updated to guide the siting and design of the SIO Commons project which is scheduled to be completed in time for SIO's centennial celebration in 2003.  The update acknowledges recent developments at SIO including the Ritter Replacement Facility and Pawka Green.  The update reflects a somewhat larger building program for the Commons, and also reevaluates both the Commons and the proposed parking structure in consideration of SIO's residential neighbors' concerns regarding potential view impacts of these future projects.

Note that after completion of the update the Executive Architect for the Commons project proposed that all components of the project be placed on the west side of Discovery Way which was subsequently adopted.  The effect of this change is a reduction in the site capacity for a future Administration Building west of Sverdrup Hall.  Instead of the 13,500 ASF accommodated in the Plan Update, it now appears that a three story building, physically attached to the west end of Sverdrup Hall, could only provide approximately 10,000 ASF.