New Univ. of Calif. Riverside business school building will support hybrid learning

A design-build partnership of Moore Ruble Yudell and McCarthy Building Companies will collaborate on a new business school building at the University of California at Riverside. The team was selected to design the new 63,000 sf building from a design competition. The structure is a key component for the school to accommodate rapidly growing enrollment—a 58% increase since 2015.

“This is the cornerstone in our plan to grow the UCR School of Business through new faculty, increased enrollment, and additional staff, and increase our engagement with the community through building a central hub for connection between business leaders, our research faculty, and our students,” said Yuzeng Wang, Dean of the Business School.

The new building will feature two 80-seat classrooms; a 350-seat auditorium; a computer lab; a studio to record podcasts, lectures, videos, and other media; study areas; a student lounge; 20 faculty offices; 59 administrative offices including one for the dean; a faculty and staff lounge; an executive meeting room, and group meeting rooms. It will also include state-of-the-art technology for hybrid learning, allowing lecturers to deliver multi-media presentations that can be recorded and streamed.

The structure will be the first new building in the south campus district, an area expected to see future growth. It has been designed to serve as a gateway and will integrate strong indoor-outdoor connections that harmonize the project to its site, district, and greater campus. A variety of outdoor spaces for student and faculty use as well as school events have been incorporated into the design.

“While the project supports future-oriented research and teaching, it is designed to be uniquely of its place, responsive to its site, campus, climate, and diverse student population,” said Jeanne Chen, FAIA, principal with Moore Ruble Yudell. “It respects its context and history while projecting boldly into the future, to support the school’s growth and leadership as an international center of excellence in business education and research.”

The project is scheduled to be completed by the fall semester of 2024. The business school at UCR is the largest in the University of California system.

On the Building Team:
Owner and/or developer: University of California Riverside
Design architect: Moore Ruble Yudell
Architect of record: Moore Ruble Yudell
MEP engineer: AEI Affiliated Engineers
Structural engineer: Coffman Engineers
General contractor/construction manager: McCarthy Building Companies