The University of California, Riverside’s new plant research facility, a state-of-the-art greenhouse with best-in-class research and climate control technologies, recently held its grand opening. Construction of the two-story, 30,000 sf facility was completed in 2021. It then went through two years of preparation and testing.
The facility will enable students and faculty from UCR’s College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (CNAS) to conduct innovative studies previously unachievable at the university. Teams are currently investigating how well bees can pollinate in different climates, testing how to grow rice to withstand drought and flooding conditions, and examining how plants can serve as soil decontaminants.
The gables of the surrounding greenhouses inspired the design of the building, which is expressed in the upper-level glass roofs. The serrated concrete walls at the ground level, and the array of fans running across the structure’s south elevation complement the rhythmic quality of the upper-level greenhouses. The minimalist use of concrete, steel, and glass allows the building to display its overall function and historical connectedness. The upper level supports a compact cluster of 16 greenhouse modules, each its own independent laboratory.
The serrated concrete wall that envelops the lower-level acts as a thermal mass that stabilizes swings in internal temperature, reducing the need for mechanical air conditioning and capitalizing on the Southern California climate. Each upper-level greenhouse is encased in double-pane polarized glass, revealing the research activities taking place within.
![718032_N25_highres.jpg](/sites/default/files/inline-images/718032_N25_highres.jpg)
Humidity, temperature, lighting, and other conditions can be independently calibrated in each module to mimic a diverse range of conditions. Climate control is assisted through vertical and horizontal automated shades that enable researchers to closely tune the natural light. Air-conditioning stabilizes select areas, but an evaporative cooling system covers the whole building, allowing it to maintain temperatures lower than other research greenhouses on the campus.
“We are anticipating placing priority on projects that need more specialized environment, things that need humidity and more accurate temperature control,” says Peggy Mauk, director of agricultural operations and a professor of subtropical horticulture with CNAS. According to Mauk, the facility will work well for research involving insects that need colder temperatures, plants that grow at high altitudes, or pathogens requiring tightly controlled environments. “The building is the first new plant research facility built on campus in close to 40 years,” says CNAS
Dean Kathryn Uhrich, “and is considered instrumental in maintaining UCR's continued leadership in agricultural research for the coming decades.”
On the project team:
Owner and/or developer: University of California, Riverside
Design architect: Perkins&Will Los Angeles
Architect of record: Perkins&Will Los Angeles
MEP engineer: tk1sc
Structural engineer: Coffman Engineers
General contractor/construction manager: DPR Construction
![718032_N19_highres.jpg](/sites/default/files/inline-images/718032_N19_highres.jpg)
![718032_N21_highres.jpg](/sites/default/files/inline-images/718032_N21_highres.jpg)
![718032_N22_highres.jpg](/sites/default/files/inline-images/718032_N22_highres.jpg)
![718032_N18_highres.jpg](/sites/default/files/inline-images/718032_N18_highres.jpg)
![718032_N20_highres.jpg](/sites/default/files/inline-images/718032_N20_highres.jpg)
![718032_N17_highres.jpg](/sites/default/files/inline-images/718032_N17_highres.jpg)
![Courtesy Perkins&Will Los Angeles](/sites/default/files/inline-images/718032_N3_highres.jpg)
![Courtesy Perkins&Will Los Angeles](/sites/default/files/inline-images/718032_N4_highres.jpg)
![Courtesy Perkins&Will Los Angeles](/sites/default/files/inline-images/718032_N8_highres.jpg)
![Courtesy Perkins&Will Los Angeles](/sites/default/files/inline-images/718032_N14_highres.jpg)
![Courtesy Perkins&Will Los Angeles](/sites/default/files/inline-images/718032_N15_highres.jpg)
![Courtesy Perkins&Will Los Angeles](/sites/default/files/inline-images/718032_N9_highres.jpg)
Related Stories
| Oct 30, 2012
Lord, Aeck & Sargent announces four student life facility wins
Projects recognize the architecture firm’s expertise on a nationwide basis.
| Oct 4, 2012
2012 Reconstruction Awards Gold Winner: Wake Forest Biotech Place, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Reconstruction centered on Building 91.1, a historic (1937) five-story former machine shop, with its distinctive façade of glass blocks, many of which were damaged. The Building Team repointed, relocated, or replaced 65,869 glass blocks.
| Sep 19, 2012
Modular, LEED-Gold Certified Dormitory Accommodates Appalachian State University Growth
By using modular construction, the university was able to open a dorm a full year earlier than a similar dorm built at the same time with traditional construction.
| Sep 6, 2012
CPPI awarded $30.3 million contract for University of Florida’s Harrell Medical Education Building
The specialized interdisciplinary learning environment will serve as a focal point for integration and program development for all primary care educational activities in the College of Medicine.
| Sep 5, 2012
Skanska tops out residence hall complex at the University of Delaware
Construction firm achieves structural milestone for $71 million student housing expansion project.
| Aug 30, 2012
John S Clark Co. completes teaching lab at UNC Wilmington
Three-story building provides offices, classrooms, and labs.
| Aug 7, 2012
Pioneering revival
Financial setbacks didn’t stop this Building Team from transforming the country’s first women’s medical school into a new home for college students.
| Aug 7, 2012
Shedding light on the arts
Renovating Pietro Belluschi’s Juilliard School opens the once-cloistered institution to its Upper West Side community.
| Aug 7, 2012
McCarthy tops out LEED Platinum-designed UCSD Health Sciences Biomedical Research Facility
New laboratory will enable UCSD to recruit and accommodate preeminent faculty.
| Jul 25, 2012
KBE Building renovates UConn dining hall
Construction for McMahon Dining Hall will be completed in September 2012.