Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s newest addition to its campus, The William and Linda Frost Center for Research and Innovation, is currently under construction.
The four-story, 103,800-sf Center is dedicated to undergraduate students who engage in faculty-mentored research each year and work side-by-side with professors. The Frost Center will bring three colleges together under one roof: the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Science and Mathematics, and the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences. It is designed to support the educational priorities of a growing student and faculty population, promote interdisciplinary communities, and provide academic space.
Included within the building are 19 flexible laboratory and teaching spaces, large general-purpose classrooms, collaboration areas, faculty/staff offices, a recording studio, editing bays, a high-end computer lab, and a teaching kitchen. The teaching kitchen is showcased on the first floor and is highly visible from the atrium.
The modularly planned laboratories provide flexibility for any future changes and can be combined to produce large, open laboratories or subdivided to produce small instrument or special-use laboratories. A “big room” for the College of Liberal Arts will give students a space where they can create, perform, test, record, and display their work for passersby along the adjacent hallways and exterior pathways.
Passive design strategies and natural ventilation will create a healthy building for occupants. 100% outside air from air handling units and operable windows in offices allow the building to avoid the recirculation of air that might provide an avenue for airborne exposure to viruses such as COVID-19.
The project is designed to achieve LEED Gold and includes sustainable features such as passive heating and cooling strategies, will consume 30% less potable water, and will have the capacity to accommodate future rooftop solar panels.
See Also: Apartments and condos occupy what was once a five-story car dealership
The William and Linda Frost Center for Research and Innovation is slated for completion in late 2021.
Related Stories
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Nov 27, 2017
The University of Memphis unveils the new home of the men’s basketball program
The Laurie-Walton Family Basketball Center will provide a strong commitment to donor and VIP cultivation.
Adaptive Reuse | Nov 10, 2017
Austin’s first indoor shopping mall becomes Austin Community College’s new digital media center
Renovation of the defunct mall represents Phase 2 of ACC’s $100 million adaptive reuse project.
University Buildings | Nov 6, 2017
A reconstructed building sets the standard for future rehabs at Cornell
Early AE collaboration played a major role in moving this project forward efficiently.
University Buildings | Oct 13, 2017
The University of Oklahoma receives its first residential colleges
The residential communities were designed by KWK Architects and combine living and learning amenities.
University Buildings | Oct 12, 2017
USC to debut new bioscience center next month
The building is designed to maximize recruitment and interaction of scientists and researchers.
University Buildings | Oct 12, 2017
The Center for Wounded Veterans is a first for a university campus
The Chez Family Foundation Center for Wounded Veterans in Higher Education is the first building of its kind on a U.S. college campus.
University Buildings | Oct 10, 2017
A 1920s cheese factory is now a university science building
Almost 15,000 sf of space was added to the original, four-story building.
Sustainability | Oct 9, 2017
New Arizona State University building will reach triple net-zero performance
The science and research complex will include an atrium biome filled with plants and water.
Higher Education | Sep 18, 2017
Campus landscape planning of the future: A University of Wisconsin-Madison case study
Recognizing that the future health of the campus and lake are interdependent, this innovative approach will achieve significant improvements in stormwater management and water quality within the university’s restored, more connected network of historic and culturally rich landscapes.
University Buildings | Sep 15, 2017
New Blinn College Residence Hall hopes to decrease the size of the campus housing wait list
In 2016, more than 400 students were placed on the wait list due to lack of available on-campus housing.