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
| Aug 11, 2010
High-profit design firms invest in in-house training
Forty-three percent of high-profit architecture, engineering, and environmental consulting firms have in-house training staff, according to a study by ZweigWhite. The 2008-2009 Successful Firm Survey reports that only 36% of firms overall have in-house training staff. In addition, 52% of high-profit firms use an online training system or service.
| Aug 11, 2010
Construction cost trend remains negative despite August increases, according to AGC
Despite increases in construction costs in August, new figures released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that prices for the sector remain significantly down from a year ago, the chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America said today in analyzing the data.
| Aug 11, 2010
Help Wanted: Architect for $100 million 'Discovery Park' in Union City, Tennessee
The Robert E. and Jenny D. Kirkland Foundation is identifying architects interested in designing a 50-acre, multi-million dollar complex in Union City, TN. Discovery Park of America will be a world-class, multi-faceted venue presenting exhibits and interactive experiences about history, nature, art, and science.
| Aug 11, 2010
Clark Group, Hensel Phelps among nation's largest federal government contractors, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 40 Federal Government Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Schmidt Associates and Johnson Melloh form new company, Energy Solutions by JMS
Schmidt Associates, a full-service architecture and engineering firm based in Indianapolis (and a 2008 BD+C Best Firms to Work For winner), and Johnson Melloh, a mechanical contractor, have formed a new company called Energy Solutions by JMS. The two will share resources through the new company to design and construct energy-efficient systems.
| Aug 11, 2010
Report: Fraud levels fall for construction industry, but companies still losing $6.4 million on average
The global construction, engineering and infrastructure industry saw a significant decline in fraud activity with companies losing an average of $6.4 million over the last three years, according to the latest edition of the Kroll Annual Global Fraud Report, released today at the Association of Corporate Counsel’s 2009 Annual Meeting in Boston. This new figure represents less than half of last year’s amount of $14.2 million.
| Aug 11, 2010
Davis Langdon, DEGW merge
Leading global construction consultancy Davis Langdon and strategic planning consultants DEGW have announced a merger
| Aug 11, 2010
Total construction in 2009 and 2010 will be down 14%, 5%, respectively
The outlook for the general economy is improving, but that doesn’t mean good news for construction yet, reports FMI’s Construction Outlook, a quarterly, construction-market forecast and supplement to the U.S. Markets Construction Overview FMI has produced since 1985. Total construction in 2009 and 2010 will be down 14% and 5% respectively.
