International Architecture Awards Tell a friend
ARCHIVE 2023
International Architecture Awards
Architects: Yazdani Studio of CannonDesign
Lead Architect: Mehrdad Yazdani
General Contractor: Hensel Phelps
Client: Caltech
Photographers: Yazdani Studio of CannonDesign
Essentially a maker space for scientists, Caltech’s Resnick Sustainability Resource Center will be a dynamic hub for critical research into the most pressing climate and sustainability challenges. The building will unite experts from across physical sciences, life sciences, and engineering disciplines in shared spaces with access to unparalleled instrumentation to advance novel solutions that extend beyond any single discipline.
Fueled by an immersive design process reliant heavily on prototyping, the 80,000 square foot project contains five levels and builds on a major campus pedestrian path. The building envelope is conceived as an undulating glass scrimm, using fritted low E glazing and integral shading fins to minimize glare and achieve optimal energy performance. In line with the building’s sustainability mission, a timber-framed atrium houses the center’s social and collaborative spaces, and the glass curtain wall flooding this multi-story space with natural light incorporates a mass timber grid shell. In the building’s core, key 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.
The Sustainability Resources Center’s transparent design puts “science on display,” helping spark the imagination of passersby. The building will also do more than benefit graduate students and scientists from varying disciplines and departments. The building’s second floor will be populated by undergrad classrooms and labs, and every freshman will have at least one class in the building, helping immerse them in the importance of climate action and sustainability.
