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
| Mar 20, 2012
Stanford’s Knight Management Center Awarded LEED Platinum
The 360,000-sf facility underscores what is taught in many of the school’s electives such as Environmental Entrepreneurship and Environmental Science for Managers and Policy Makers, as well as in core classes covering sustainability across the functions of business.
| Mar 19, 2012
HKS Selected for Baylor Medical Center at Waxahachie
Baylor Medical Center at Waxahachiewill incorporate advanced technology including telemedicine, digital imaging, remote patient monitoring, electronic medical records and computer patient records.
| Mar 14, 2012
Tsoi/Kobus and Centerbrook to design Jackson Laboratory facility in Farmington, Conn.
Building will house research into personalized, gene-based cancer screening and treatment.
| Mar 6, 2012
EwingCole completes first design-build project for the USMA
The second phase of the project, which includes the academic buildings and the lacrosse and football fields, was completed in January 2012.
| Mar 6, 2012
Joliet Junior College achieves LEED Gold
With construction managed by Gilbane Building Company, Joliet Junior College’s Facility Services Building combines high-performance technologies with sustainable materials to meet aggressive energy efficiency goals.
| Mar 1, 2012
Cornell shortlists six architectural firms for first building on tech campus
Each of the firms will be asked to assemble a team of consultants and prepare for an interview to discuss their team’s capabilities to successfully design the university’s project.
| Mar 1, 2012
Bomel completes design-build parking complex at U.C. San Diego
The $24-million facility, which fits into a canyon setting on the university’s East Campus, includes 1,200 stalls in two adjoining garages and a soccer field on a top level.
| Feb 28, 2012
Salem State University Library & Learning Commons topped off
When it opens to students in the fall of 2013, the $60 million facility will offer new archival space; circulation and reference areas; collections; reading spaces; study rooms; instruction labs and a Dean’s suite.
| Feb 28, 2012
Griffin Electric completes Medical University of South Carolina project
The 210,000-sf complex is comprised of two buildings, and houses research, teaching and office areas, plus conference spaces for the University.
| Feb 14, 2012
Angelo State University opens doors to new recreation center expansion
Designed by SmithGroup, the JJR_Center for Human Performance offers enhanced fitness options, dynamic gathering space.
