Enterprising architect merges passion of architecture with love of science to become a recognized leader in the area of research facility design.

Recently, Ken sat down with Dana Tennis of RetirementDNA to discuss a wide range of topics – the life sciences and architecture, worldwide biotech trends, the status of high school science education, and what it was like to grow up with a Nobel Laureate as a father.

Q:1 Ken, tell us a little bit about your background? How did you end up starting your company here in San Diego and San Francisco?

I was born in Bethesda, MD, where both of my parents were scientists at the NIH. We moved to St. Louis where we stayed for 6 years before moving to the SF Bay area in 1959. With both parents being scientists, I felt very at home in a lab—as familiar as a kitchen is to most children. Once a month the entire biochemistry department gathered at our home to party and discuss their work. I grew up surrounded by science and scientists; my two brothers became scientists as well.

In 1967, at the age of 17, I spent a summer working in a marine biology lab at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. As part of my research, I was given the use of a surfer’s “woody” station wagon, and asked to search the beaches for new species of diatom. That summer I met Junior Miss La Jolla, discovered a new diatom, and developed a lifelong love of the ocean. I thought science was great.

When I enrolled at Stanford I assumed I would be a music or marine biology major, but it wasn’t long before I was lured away by the beautiful drawings and models I saw in the architecture department.

I started my working career in Bay Area architecture firms designing houses, department stores and junior colleges. I met my wife, Veronica (we are now married 26 years-and have three daughters 15, 21 and 23), at a firm in San Francisco. We moved to Del Mar where Veronica enrolled at UCSD. I was very happy to return to La Jolla. I opened my first office in Del Mar in the Tudor building at Camino del Mar and 15th Street with a view of the ocean. My first project was a lab remodel in the Stanford Genetics Department for a friend I met that summer in 1967 in La Jolla. That project was completed in 1980, when the biotech industry was just taking off in San Diego and the Bay Area. That first biomedical research project at Stanford led to several projects in La Jolla, at Cal Tech, Stanford, and UCSF. I opened an office in Menlo Park in 1986 when we received several larger commissions there and moved back to the Bay Area around that time. Since then Kornberg Assoc. has completed 400 biomedical research projects on 4 continents. In addition to the offices in MP and SD, we have a third office in Tokyo

Q:2 Tell us about Kornberg Associates and how you came to focus on the Life Science and Biotech arena.

As an architect I was unusually knowledgeable about how labs worked. The coupling of that knowledge and my interest in fun design turned out to be unusual among architects. My detailed understanding of the research environment produced both a technical and humane nature to the lab designs that many scientists enjoy.

Q:3 What is the process you go through when trying to get to know a client's design needs and wants?

The major factors we start with are: 1) the scope of the project: that is what they hope to do when the project is complete 2) the schedule of the project and 3) the funds available to do the project. Once we determine the balance of these factors we look at the long term and immediate demands of the facility and check that the design is comprehensive. We do a lot of 3D modeling and often use examples of our facilities to help our clients understand the different options and new solutions that might be effective for them.

Q:4 You’re doing business all over the world these days. Tell us about the global biotech market.

Though it is clear that the biotech industry has a promising future, at present the US venture capital for biotech is at a low, particularly for any funding before Phase three. The governments of many cities and countries are eager to become major players in the biotech industry. However, most don’t have even one biotech company, let alone a university with a brain trust that can support an industry. Singapore stands out for having developed a remarkable core of fine researchers in a small island and an economic environment to fuel a successful industry. Their timing was perfect for the abandonment of stem cell research in the US, and they were instantly able to attract scientists from the US who were unable to get federal support here for their research. The venture capital market in Europe and Asia is no more robust than in the US. Currently, all Kornberg Associates overseas work is with universities, pharmaceutical or major private medical institutions.

Q:5 What differences -economic or regulatory- are you seeing in foreign countries compared to the US?

The regulatory differences vary based on location, but all labs depend on either the USFDA or an equivalent if they have a procedure or product that will need market approval. The FDA is considered a world standard. Japan and Europe have their own versions. The Japanese standards are generally considered more rigid than the US FDA and all the international regulatory agencies keep a very close look on what the others are doing. Our project in Dubai is seeking US FDA validation, even though there is no government requirement for it.

Q:6 Are there any Prop 71 type funding scenarios overseas that you’re aware of?

Yes, the Singapore, French, British, South Korean and other governments are funding stem cell research.

Q:7 If you were Governor for one month and had unilateral authority to make changes that would stick, what would be your top three initiatives?

1. Provide free health care for the needy.
2. Make California the number one state in public education.
3. Provide economic incentives for small business and start-ups.

Q:8 Have high school labs kept pace with biotech and life science developments?

No. Biotech was invented in California just at the time California plummeted from Number 1 in the country to number 49 in public education. California universities, private research institutions and biotech campuses conduct some of the best life science research in the world, but any tour of the high school labs will show why California students do not score well on national exams. I had very good high school science courses in my local public school in the San Francisco Bay Area. We did not have honors courses then. Now only a few honors programs at a few select schools have respectable programs for science education.

Q:9 Do you believe we need to be doing more at the high school level to encourage a passion for science? If so, what?

Yes. Curiosity is the basis of passion for science, but it needs to be nurtured and propagated by enthusiastic teachers. Teachers with poor labs, poor texts, and classes that are too large for them to work effectively soon lose their enthusiasm and ability to fuel the passion. Our teachers need to be supported in their classroom work and in their own professional development.

Q10: What was it like to grow up with a Nobel Laureate for a father?

It was awesome, dude.

Q11: Do you ever think about the irony of your career in that one of the labs you’ve designed may be housing a future Nobel winner like your father?

One of the first labs I designed was for Harold Varmus who received the prize in medicine for his work on oncogenes several years after we designed his lab. I enjoyed working with Harold because he cared so much about creating an enduring and fun environment for his research group.

Q:12 Who are your favorite architects from past or present, and why?

My favorite architect is Frank Lloyd Wright. His design work is so well scaled to the person and the human experience and he was such a fine artist. Another 20th Century architect I like is Antonio Gaudi. His playful, energetic forms are so easy to enjoy. Eero Saarinen was another remarkable 20th C. architect with an exquisite talent for creating exhilarating building forms. Among contemporary architects, Santiago Calatrava is among the most exciting in his expression of structure in architectural form . Other contemporary architects who I find consistently exciting and inspiring are Tadao Ando and Renzo Piano. I have been fortunate to work with two luminaries: Cesar Pelli and I.M. Pei. Working with them and experiencing their wisdom and creative energies has been enlightening and inspiring for me.

Q:13 Favorite place to get away and think?

I love to go to the mountains or the beach, but I find my best thoughts often come when I am running which I do in the hills near my home.

Q:14 When you and your wife want to escape for a romantic dinner here in town, where is your favorite place?

We love AR Valentien for its beautiful views, consistently fine food, intimate seating and it is quiet.

Q:15 OK, time for our classic question. What is the Kornberg signature dish to prepare? What wine would you pour and what music would be playing in the background?

The chocolate mousse from Piret’s cookbook. Well, okay, if we must have an entree with our dessert, how about foie gras with caramelized apples and a duck reduction sauce and a bottle of sauterne? (Followed by a small jar of Lipitor.) This may not be our signature dish, but we did make it for New Year’s Eve last year. I would start with a Bach Partita but soon enough Veronica would replace it with Tito Puente.

Thanks, Ken.