The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) recently broke ground on its Resnick Sustainability Resource Center. Designed by the Yazdani Studio of CannonDesign, the 79,500-square-foot Resnick Center will be a makerspace for scientists and a hub for research on climate and sustainability. When it opens in 2024, the building will bring together experts from physical sciences, life sciences, and engineering disciplines in shared spaces, giving them access to instrumentation that will help advance climate solutions.
“We cannot continue to raise generations in a world that is heating up, kids are choking up, and so much of our planet is burning up,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said at the groundbreaking. “This is a moral moment, and so we want to celebrate this moment of contribution.”
A timber-framed atrium will house the center’s social and collaborative spaces. Incorporating a mass timber grid shell, the atrium’s undulating glass curtain wall will flood the multi-story space with natural light. This transparent design aims to put “science on display,” according to a statement from CannonDesign.
The building’s interior spaces include a biosphere engineering facility, a solar science and catalysis center, a remote sensing center, a translational science facility, teaching labs, and lecture and interactive learning spaces. Scientists and graduate students won’t be the only beneficiaries of the new building. On the second floor, the center will house undergrad classrooms and labs, and every first-year undergrad will take at least one class in the building, educating them on the importance of climate action and sustainability.
The Resnick Sustainability Resource Center is made possible by a $750 million gift to Caltech in 2019 by billionaire philanthropists Lynda and Stewart Resnick, owners of The Wonderful Company.
Building Team:
Owner and/or developer: Caltech
Design architect and architect of record: Yazdani Studio of CannonDesign
MEP engineer: AEI
Structural engineer: Saiful Bouquet
General contractor/construction manager: Hensel Phelps
Related Stories
Building Team | Jun 7, 2022
Announcing construction inclusion week 2022: October 17-21, 2022
Save the date for Construction Inclusion Week 2022: October 17-21, 2022.
University Buildings | Jun 7, 2022
Newfoundland university STEM building emulates natural elements, local traditions
Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) recently opened a new building that will provide interdisciplinary learning and research space for Faculties of Science and Engineering.
Codes and Standards | Jun 2, 2022
Guide helps schools find funding for buildings from federal, state government
New Buildings Institute (NBI) recently released a guide to help schools identify funding programs for facilities improvements available from federal and state government programs.
Airports | Jun 2, 2022
SOM-designed International Arrival Facility at Seattle’s Sea–Tac airport features the world’s largest aerial walkway
The Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)-designed International Arrivals Facility (IAF) at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has opened, replacing a 50-year-old arrival facility.
Women in Design+Construction | Jun 2, 2022
Women in Architecture: How HMC Pioneers Gender Equality
A survey by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) shows that while women account for nearly half of graduates from architecture programs, they only make up about 15 percent of licensed architects.
Codes and Standards | Jun 2, 2022
New design guide for hybrid steel-mass timber frames released
The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) has released the first-ever set of U.S. recommendations for hybrid steel frames with mass timber floors, according to a news release.
Mass Timber | Jun 2, 2022
Brooklyn is home to New York City’s first mass timber condo building
In the Brooklyn neighborhood of Park Slope, the newly completed Timber House is New York City’s first mass timber condominium building and its largest mass timber project (by height and square footage).
Codes and Standards | Jun 1, 2022
HKS, U. of Texas Dallas partner on brain health study
HKS and The University of Texas at Dallas’ Center for BrainHealth are conducting a six-month study to improve the way the firm’s employees work, collaborate, and innovate, both individually and as an organization, according to a news release.
Building Team | Jun 1, 2022
Pennsylvania’s Longwood Gardens to get a $250 million transformation
Longwood Gardens, a botanical garden with about 1,100 acres in Pennsylvania’s Brandywine Valley, recently announced plans to transform its core area of conservatory gardens.
Mass Timber | May 31, 2022
Tall mass timber buildings number 139 worldwide
An audit of tall mass timber buildings turned up 139 such structures around the world either complete, under construction, or proposed.
