Creekside Center: Project Images
The original two-story wood frame building was designed by campus architect John Galen Howard and built in 1920. It was rehabilitated during the past year and a half by architects known nationally for sustainable design, historic preservation and universal accessibility.
Creekside Center, a new home for Berkeley’s 55-year-old Disabled Students’ Program, unites under one roof — for the first time — most of the units that serve the more than 5,500 DSP students on campus.
Students relax just inside Creekside Center’s entryway while waiting for appointments.
Outside the front entrance is a yellow bench that is a new stop for The Loop, a golf cart that provides intra-campus rides for eligible students and faculty and staff members with disabilities on a first-come, first-served basis.
Lighting in Creekside Center minimizes glare. Wendy Hillis, campus architect, said the overall goal of the building’s design is to “offer a supportive environment that helps reduce sensory overload, promotes mental focus and fosters inclusivity.”
The ceilings in Creekside Center are covered with acoustic panels to reduce sound levels and reverberation, helping individuals who have auditory sensitivities and are challenged by noisy environments.
The revamped building includes a long interior ramp with railings on each side. The windows reveal an outdoor area that someday could become a patio and event space.
Creekside Center is conveniently next door to the Undergraduate Academic Building, currently under construction. Scheduled to open in early 2026, it will house 27 classrooms, Letters and Science Advising and a state-of-the-art, 400-seat auditorium with a rooftop terrace overlooking Strawberry Creek.
Project Background
Renovations were made to the existing Dwinelle Annex, including seismic and life-safety improvements, to create Creekside Center. Creekside Center is the new home for the Disabled Students' Program (DSP). With the completion of this project, for the first time in its 60-year history, DSP has a space that is specifically designed for the needs of its community. This project created new office space and common meeting areas for DSP, in addition to making accessibility improvements throughout the building.
DSP is an integral part of the Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The program promotes an inclusive environment for students with disabilities and equips those students with appropriate accommodations and services to achieve their academic goals. Over the past three years, DSP has grown to serve nearly 4,100 students, outgrowing its existing spaces in several other campus buildings. The Dwinelle Annex renovation creates a central location for the program that consolidates services in a secure building, improves departmental collaboration and student access to their services, and accommodates future program needs and expansion.
Creekside Center is a wood frame building designed by John Galen Howard that was built and expanded at three different times in 1920, 1924, and 1949. This project rehabilitated the two-story structure within the existing building footprint and made efficient use of the central corridor for access to all spaces. All windows were replaced with new aluminum-clad wood windows for performance and finish. The northeast entrance was renewed with fresh landscaping, a new pathway to the main entrance, and a signage wall that improves legibility and wayfinding. Inside the building, this project provides approximately 8,800 gross square feet of renewed space that supports DSP program requirements, including improvements to offices, meeting spaces, circulation, and entry.