A Decade in the Making
The project started in earnest over a decade ago with a vision. Mark Romney, with his experience with AURP, was instrumental in championing revisioning a planned academic research zone at the Med Center in Sacramento. For proof of concept, we brought on experts in academic research innovation districts including Bob Geolas of HR&A Advisors and Perkins and Will. The team, led by Stephen Coulston and David Oh, was instrumental in providing guidance and inspiration to shift the paradigm from a mere university research buildings to a vibrant mixed use community.
A Champion for Aggie Square
Vision only goes so far without leadership. When UC Davis Chancellor Gary May arrived, he turned the vision into reality. With his experience at Georgia Tech’s Tech Square in midtown Atlanta, Chancellor May championed (and named) Aggie Square.
The initiative quickly became much more than a project, led by then-UCD campus planner Bob Segar. UC Davis Health, always the backbone for the Sacramento campus, welcomed partner schools from the Davis campus. Further, the team engaged Sacramento leadership in a way that the Med Center never had before.
Historical Background
Aggie Square built upon generations of masterplanning for the Sacramento Medical Center. From origins as the County Hospital and State Fair site, the land became part of the University of California, Davis in the 1970s. Decades of cleanup and development on the site, along with recognition of history of the neighboring communities embody the site.
Redlining was a real issue in Sacramento, along with other major cities in postwar United States. In the diagram below, the green dashed line outlines the rough area of the Oak Park neighborhood and other areas where people were pushed out to with redevelopment of the downtown and construction of freeways. The University of California captured the land vacated when the California State Fair relocated to Cal Expo (blue arrow below). That land became what is now the site of Aggie Square, along with other Med Center functions as the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing, Tschannen Eye Center and other components of the campus plan.
The University of California continued to expand the Medical Center into a thriving healthcare provider in the early 21st Century. The growth of the UCD Medical School, the Main Hospital and addition of the Shriner’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital all added to the core of the compex. in 2015, the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing, UCD was the anchor institution for education and healthcare by 2015. Medical research facilities were expanding to align with healthcare needs. The Aggie Square concept, which harnesses the medical and education prowess of UCD, provides the opportunity to reconnect to the community and become Sacramento’s anchor institution.
Sustainability Pushes forward
Aggie Square presents an evolution of UCD as the anchor institution for Sacramento, including rethinking the status quo. For example, the sustainability goals were workshopped early to ensure inclusion in the plan, and we identified an all-electric mixed use community partnered with SMUD – thanks to Camille Kirk, Colleen McCormick, Breeze Glaser, Arash Guitny, Jim Sharpe and Krista McMurphy from AEI for years of work molding and pushing the boundaries.
The criteria developed by UCD, UCDHealth and UCOP led to the selection of the Wexford Team to design and construct Aggie Square. The ZGF/AEI team – in concert with UCD – brought their expertise in bringing those goals to life and improving it in so many ways. Aggie Square looks to fulfill the vision, leadership and goals of creating Aggie Square as Sacramento’s Innovation District.
Focus on Collaboration, Innovation and Community
Aggie Square is not in isolation – more accurately it is a component of a comprehensive planning effort. With hundreds of meetings before even taking shape, community involvement in the planning of the UCD Sacramento campus is a continuum of engagement. The success of Aggie Square builds upon those generations of collective planning effort, currently led by Matt Dulcich in Jason Nietupski’s Facilities Planning and Development Division at UCD Health.
Wexford took on the many challenges of the project criteria – primary of which is a spirit of developing a collaborative community for innovation. Wexford’s plan includes development of Social Lab. This will provide the physical spaces for research collaboration for academic and private partners. These include wet bench, support core areas, office and dry functions. Spaces range from shared bench for start-ups, dedicated rooms and shell space for maturing research initiatives. Aggie Square provides that physical environment crafted to foster collaboration and innovation.
A note regarding SwiftEnvirons LLC
SwiftEnvirons LLC is a woman-owned small business specializing in healthy architecture and design. Susan Swift leads the current efforts is supporting CIRM (California Institute for Regenerative Medicine) and their grants across California. CIRM grants are funding shared research laboratories across the State of California. Construction started in 2025 at four host academic institutions. Joel Swift, with experience in planning, developing and operating healthcare and biomedical research facilities, provides Project Manager. SwiftEnvirons is grateful to visit the Wexford Social Lab just before occupancy, as it provides inspiration for the development and operation of shared labs focused on cultivation of biomedical research.
(c) 2025 SwiftEnvirons LLC
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