UC Berkeley Helen Diller Anchor House

455,000 square feet
14 stories, 245 units
Berkeley, California
2024

The Helen Diller Anchor House is a transformative project that will set a new standard for student residential living. Located just one block from the UC Berkeley campus and three blocks from the Berkeley Bart station, the mixed-use dormitory is designed and programmed to help the University's transfer students thrive academically, socially, and culturally.

The Helen Diller Anchor House concept is ‘home, inspired’: a building that reinvents the transfer-student housing experience to create a unique sense of community and prepare its residents for academic and professional success.

The dormitory program consists of studio and two- and four-bedroom apartments. Each fully-furnished apartment features private, single bedrooms and built-in desks in front of the bedroom windows to access natural light and air. The units also include full kitchens with all major appliances, including a washer and dryer.

The building has two event spaces with accompanying catering kitchens, a culinary classroom for Rausser College of Natural Resources to promote healthy and sustainable cooking, and "makerspace" run by the Berkeley Art Studio, with classes for students and the community.

An expansive indoor/outdoor fitness center will also be available to residents, along with a rooftop vegetable garden, secure bicycle storage, a bike maintenance shop, and lounges and activity spaces for residents and other Berkeley students who commute to school.

The Helen Diller Anchor House will be LEED Gold certified.