Bracamonte and Lazzarotto will expand the firm’s presence in the life sciences and technology industry sectors with a team of planners and designers well known for designing complex buildings for science and technology clients. Ellerbe Becket will leverage its history of experience in healthcare and mission critical facilities with its depth of resources across its five US offices. The practice will be run from the San Francisco office.
“Our approach to design always begins with a deep understanding of our client’s technical needs, and a collaborative process that provides them with innovative solutions to complex problems, ” said Bracamonte. “Roland and his team’s technical expertise and service-oriented style are an ideal fit, enhancing our ability to serve science and technology clients with complex needs in the Bay Area and around the world.”
Ellerbe Becket’s Science & Technology team members have spent the last 25 years working on millions of square feet of high tech buildings, primarily in California as well as nationally and internationally. Delivering a full spectrum of services, from site selection and real estate decisions to strategic design, Ellerbe Becket meets client business objectives with a proven project delivery process that keeps projects within budget and on time, while maximizing innovative design.
Ellerbe Becket San Francisco welcomes four seasoned architects to the practice: Roland Lazzarotto, principal; Chuck Van Horn, senior laboratory planner; Dennis Tom, architectural project manager; and Martin Mitzner, architectural designer. All four come from Gicklhorn Lazzarotto Partners and they join Ellerbe Becket’s Science & Technology team consisting of Robert A. Bracamonte, design director and principal; Beth Olson, senior project architect; and Quin Wu, architectural project captain.
The new Science & Technology practice is already helping define, design and build solution-oriented work environments for clients such as: Tyco Electronics, Agilent Technologies, Trancept Pharmaceuticals, Dynavax Pharmaceuticals, Zogenix, Sangamo Biosciences, Niman Ranch, Allcells Leukolab, as well as for Wareham Development, CB Richard Ellis and Grubb & Ellis.
Senior Members of Ellerbe Becket’s Science & Technology Practice
Robert A. Bracamonte, AIA, Principal and Design Director
Robert Bracamonte has more than 30 years of experience in architecture and design, with a primary focus on science, technology and healthcare facilities. He has significant experience in the design of corporate offices, research and laboratory buildings, microelectronics clean rooms, and healthcare buildings and campuses. Utilizing his skills in site master planning, facilities needs and analysis, programming, functional planning, site planning and conceptual design, Bracamonte has developed special expertise in collaborative team processes to focus design efforts on achieving cost effective, operationally efficient and aesthetically pleasing environments. He pursues creative solutions that are the result of an active hands-on participation of the entire design team, including clients and end users. Bracamonte received his bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Arizona, and previously worked at HDR Architecture, Anderson DeBartolo Pan Inc., and Deems/Lewis and Partners. His work designing offices, labs, and device and processing centers has won several awards from the AIA.
Roland Lazzarotto, AIA, Principal
Roland Lazzarotto has over 28 years of experience leading teams through the programming, design and construction phases of industrial corporate architecture projects. He specializes in front-end programming, site selection, site master planning and building design for complex projects that require special attention to technical detail and aesthetic significance. He is known for managing design and construction projects for pharmaceutical production facilities; wet and dry labs for medical, science and biotechnology clients; high-technology clean rooms, data centers and manufacturing facilities, as well as office buildings and corporate campuses. Lazzarotto received his bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, and worked previously at MBT Associates before founding his own architecture firm, Gicklhorn Lazzarotto Partners.
Chuck Van Horn, AIA, Senior Laboratory Planner
Chuck Van Horn has more than 44 years of experience in architecture and building construction. Skilled in construction estimating, project management, planning and design for a wide range of building types, his work in the last 15 years has focused on programming and planning of chemistry and biotechnology labs for a range of clients. Through his working knowledge of the codes and regulations for bio-medical lab projects, he is able to address issues related to lab and process safety during the programming and planning phases to ease clients through the design phase. He received a bachelor’s degree from the Michigan Technological University and worked previously at Gicklhorn Lazzarotto Partners.
An innovator since its founding in 1909, Ellerbe Becket is a leader in architecture, interiors, engineering and the construction industry with office locations worldwide.
Contact: news@ellerbebecket.com
