2024-05-06T11:45:42-04:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/150326061/big-breaks-ground-on-a-transformational-new-science-center-at-california-s-claremont-mckenna-college Josh Niland 2022-10-05T18:36:00-04:00 >2024-03-15T01:45:58-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/85/855b4ca8f56d2c2d7ebaa2993f573b73.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>A new higher-ed project from <a href="https://archinect.com/firms/cover/39902/big-bjarke-ingels-group" target="_blank">BIG</a> has broken ground on the campus of California&rsquo;s <a href="https://archinect.com/schools/cover/94742903/claremont-mckenna-college" target="_blank">Claremont McKenna College</a>.</p> <p>The 135,000-square-foot Robert Day Sciences Center provides facilities for a newly-funded program of integrated scientific research into neurology, genealogical studies, and climate change while spearheading a series of improvements aimed at preparing the 76-year-old school for its "next chapter."</p> <figure><p><a href="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/c9/c90a104faa71889cbd11e9ded71c397d.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;w=1028" target="_blank"><img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/c9/c90a104faa71889cbd11e9ded71c397d.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;w=514"></a></p><figcaption>Image courtesy BIG</figcaption></figure><p>In keeping with this notion, BIG positioned the structure as a gateway to the rest of the campus&rsquo; academic buildings. A pair of rectangular block volumes stack on top of one another, outlined along their edges by wood-clad trusses and bookended by a transparent glass curtain facade. Each individual volume is rotated 45 degrees away from the floor below it to enable a sky-lit central glass-covered atrium filled with open spaces that engender collaboration between students and faculty.&nbsp;</p> <figure><p><a href="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/c3/c33a5dda428ebfd0d20102bca1239aeb.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;w=1028" target="_blank"><img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/c3/c33a5dda428ebfd0d20102bca1239aeb.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;w=514"></a></p><figcaption>Image courtesy BIG</figcaption></figure><figure><a href="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/6b/6b98b9789f4f8bc9243e0f8288fcafad.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;w=1028" target="_blank"><img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/6b/6b98b9789f4f8bc9243e0f8288fcafad.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;w=514"></a><figcaption>Image courtesy BIG</figcaption></figure><figure><p><a href="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/9b/9b4bed5ae400411e583150bd6cc77fd7.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;w=1028" target="_blank"><img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/9b/9b4bed5ae400411e583150bd6cc77fd7.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;w=514"></a></p><figcaption>Image courtesy BIG</figcaption></figure><p>BIG&rsquo;s founder explains: "The...</p>