The design of the Robert Day Sciences Center at Claremont McKenna College will support “a powerful, multi-disciplinary, computational approach to the grand socio-scientific challenges and opportunities of our time—gene, brain, and climate,” says Hiram E. Chodosh, college president. The need for more interdisciplinary collaboration in the sciences drove the design of the building.
“More than ever, we are seeing the confluence of previously distinct disciplines: breakthroughs in computer and data science lead to breakthroughs in the natural and life sciences,” said Bjarke Ingels, founder and creative director, BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group, the firm that designed the facility. “As a consequence, we need to provide spaces for the integration of these previously siloed sciences. The labs and classrooms are stacked in a Jenga-like composition framing a column-free, open internal space with the freedom and flexibility to adapt the ever-evolving demands of technology and science.
“Each level of the building is oriented towards a different direction of the campus, channeling the flow of people and ideas internally between the labs and the classrooms as well as externally between the integrated sciences and the rest of the campus,” Ingels said. “It is our hope that the building will not only provoke new conversations between scientists but that it may also stimulate the rest of the liberal arts students to take a deeper interest in the sciences and vice versa.”
The 135,000 sf-building’s structure is a stack of two volumes, or rectangular ‘blocks’— two per floor. Each pair is rotated 45 degrees from the floor below. Each individual volume is expressed as a rectangular wood-clad truss on the long edges, and as a floor-to-ceiling glass facade on the shorter sides. The rotation of each floor enables a sky-lit, central atrium at the heart of the building with direct views into classrooms and research spaces from all levels. Upon entering, students will find open spaces that invite collaborative activity.
Instructional and research spaces are organized around the perimeter of the building, providing classrooms with picturesque views while keeping the instructional spaces away from the more social atrium. The interior aesthetic is defined by the contrast of warm wood-clad beams, concrete floors, and the functional double-duty surfaces found within the integrated sciences labs.
Eight outdoor roof terraces offer sweeping 360-degree views of the mountains to the north, the campus to the west, and the Roberts Campus to the east. Designed with a mix of hardscape and softscape areas featuring native plantings, the terraces are multi-functional, designed to be used for outdoor classrooms, study areas, or meeting places.
Groundbreaking recently took place, and the building is expected to be completed in 2024.
On the Building Team:
Owner and/or developer: Claremont McKenna College
Design architect: BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group
Architect of record: BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group
MEP engineer: Acco Engineered Systems
Structural engineer: Saiful Bouquet
General contractor/construction manager: N/A
Related Stories
| Jul 19, 2013
Best in brick: 7 stunning building façades made with brick [slideshow]
The Brick Industry Association named the winners of its 2013 Brick in Architecture Awards. Here are seven winning projects that caught our eye.
| Jul 11, 2013
Bill to borrow more for college spending in Michigan criticized due to ‘higher-ed bubble’
An amendment to a Michigan appropriations budget authorizes an increase in state debt to pay for state university construction projects. But some experts see a “higher education bubble” on the horizon, and said more taxpayer debt for more buildings is a bad idea.
| Jul 2, 2013
LEED v4 gets green light, will launch this fall
The U.S. Green Building Council membership has voted to adopt LEED v4, the next update to the world’s premier green building rating system.
| Jul 1, 2013
Report: Global construction market to reach $15 trillion by 2025
A new report released today forecasts the volume of construction output will grow by more than 70% to $15 trillion worldwide by 2025.
| Jun 28, 2013
Building owners cite BIM/VDC as 'most exciting trend' in facilities management, says Mortenson report
A recent survey of more than 60 building owners and facility management professionals by Mortenson Construction shows that BIM/VDC is top of mind among owner professionals.
| Jun 20, 2013
Virtual meetings enhance design of University at Buffalo Medical School
HOK designers in New York, St. Louis and Atlanta are using virtual meetings with their University at Buffalo (UB) client team to improve the design process for UB’s new School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.
| Jun 17, 2013
DOE launches database on energy performance of 60,000 buildings
The Energy Department today launched a new Buildings Performance Database, the largest free, publicly available database of residential and commercial building energy performance information.
| Jun 12, 2013
More than 90% of New York City schools have code violations
More than 90% of New York City schools have at least one outstanding building code violation. Loose wires, stuck doors and inadequate ventilation are just some of the problems.
| Jun 12, 2013
5 building projects that put the 'team' in teamwork
The winners of the 2013 Building Team Awards show that great buildings cannot be built without the successful collaboration of the Building Team.
| Jun 12, 2013
Sacred synergy achieves goals for religious education [2013 Building Team Award winner]
A renovation/addition project at Columbia Theological Seminary unites a historic residence hall with a modern classroom facility.
