The Old Scripps Building overlooks the Pacific coast near the Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier on the campus of the
Scripps Institution of Oceanography. It is set on a terrace about above the shore, and is a fairly undistinguished concrete structure, two stories in height, measuring about , with the long axis oriented roughly east–west. Windows are set by pairs in recessed bays, giving the surrounding concrete the appearance of structural piers. The interior plan has a wide central hall on each level, with areas on either side historically used for a variety of purposes. A lecture hall at the western end of the second floor once afforded views to the ocean. The Old Scripps Building was designed by
Irving J. Gill, a San Diego–based architect who was a proponent of
modernist architecture. It is an early example of
reinforced concrete construction techniques. In its early years, the building housed laboratories, offices, and also the residence of the institution's director. For a number of decades, it was used entirely for laboratories and research, and was vacated in 1977 after new facilities were built nearby. The university proposed its demolition, in part because the building did not meet modern seismic codes. Local preservationists banded together to raise funds for the building's restoration, including the reversal of alterations that interfered with the architect's original vision. ==See also==