Perkins&Will has just announced the opening of their new 30,000-square-foot plant research facility for The University of California, Riverside’s College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (CNAS).

The two-story greenhouse design is billed as a state-of-the-art tribute to the “importance of plant research to the culture and character of UCR" and works by “placing a utilitarian research facility in a visible and approachable location,” according to the firm. 

Yan Krymsky shares: “It’s really a machine, a tool for research. But beyond that, we wanted to create a structure that spoke to the legacy of the university.” Kymysky serves as the Design Director of Perkins&Will’s Los Angeles office, which led the award-winning project through its completion in 2021. 

“It was important for us to couple practical functionality and the aesthetic roots of the surrounding greenhouses with the college’s forward-looking spirit and focus on scientific innovation,” his colleague August Miller said of the team's approach to its design. “This ultimately translated to a series of greenhouse modules, each its own independent laboratory, at the upper level.”

Grounded by its site’s historical connection to a spate of greenhouse structures that were originally constructed in the 1960s, the Plant Research Building is the new home of the Center for Plant Cell Biology.

A cluster of 16 total greenhouse modules sits at the structure’s second level, immediately above a ground floor whose exterior is sheathed in a serrated concrete facade. The material also doubles as a thermal mass for the interior and is complemented by the addition of steel fans on the south elevation.

Climate control inside the upper level is aided by vertical and horizontal automated shades, which enable researchers to tailor the influx of natural light to their research. Finally, an evaporative cooling system provides climate control for the entire building, allowing it to maintain temperatures that are considerably lower than other research greenhouses on campus.

“This greenhouse gives us a much higher control in terms of temperature, humidity, and light,” Professor Julia Bailey-Serres (distinguished professor of genetics and director of the Center for Plant Cell Biology) added, “We [now] have this incredible ability to grow all year round.”

The total cost for the project was around $22 million.