Caltech’s new Resnick Sustainability Center (RSC) has opened after the completion of an 80,000-square-foot design produced by the LA-based Yazdani Studio of CannonDesign. 

The project, which had been marketed as an interdisciplinary and cohesive "makerspace" for Caltech scientists and engineering students, stands out thanks to an innovative building envelope shaped by an "undulating glass skim" that's noticeably distinct from other academic buildings on campus.

A language of diagonal sunscreen frits covering a low-E coated glass curtain wall and its supporting mass timber "gridshell" in the facade contribute to the building's impugned profile against the presence of the aforementioned older structures. The use of timber as a structural and aesthetic component also blends the atrium and walkways with a concrete shell core housing suites of research laboratories and academic spaces to make an elaborate yet wholly scientific composition from the outside in.

This architectonic production also yields a highly user-friendly design that matches Caltech’s sustainability goals while targeting a LEED Platinum certification. The addition of a breezeway further enhances pedestrian access surrounding the new construction. As such, the studio says this design instantly becomes the "greenest" building on the Pasadena campus.

Construction of the RSC began in May of 2022 after a $750 million naming donation. Its program includes the new home of the Solar Science and Catalysis Center, a center to monitor earth systems using satellite technology, the Ecology and Biosphere Engineering Facility, and, finally, the spacious Translational Science and Engineering Facility, which is dedicated to large-scale scientific demonstrations.

Design Principal Mehrdad Yazdani said: "Bringing every Caltech student into this space puts an emphasis on how integral sustainability is to all of the areas of discipline they will encounter throughout their education at Caltech." The project, which was pursued with assistance from Hensel Phelps, recently earned Building Team of the Year honors at the 2024 AIA|LA Design Awards.