A beautiful campus with an abundance of brilliant people now has a striking new home for its burgeoning biological sciences research department.
Situated on a tree-lined Pasadena street and surrounded by historic structures, Broad Center for the Biological Sciences will be the site of 13 key research groups that will help the California Institute of Technology maintain the extraordinary pace of discovery and innovation for which it is renowned.
“The Broad Center adds a distinguished architectural achievement to Caltech’s already beautiful campus,” said Caltech President David Baltimore. “Most importantly, it’s a highly functional building, providing a framework for advances in the biological sciences in the 21st century.”
The travertine-clad building—designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners and built by Rudolph & Sletten—was completed in September. The building’s lead designer was James Freed. Allen Rudolph was the project executive for the general contractor.
Measuring 120,000 sq. ft., with three floors above ground and two below, the Broad Center includes laboratories and offices for 13 research teams, as well as conference rooms, compact libraries, an auditorium, and a seminar room. The latest modular design elements have been used to allow the greatest flexibility for rearranging labs and offices to accommodate future needs at minimum cost. The design is intended to maximize scientific interaction.
A mall covered by red Chinese pistache trees lines one side of the building. The building’s south-facing external wall, which is adjacent to the Beckman Institute, is travertine, while the other exterior walls are covered by embossed stainless steel.
Principal funding for the $50 million structure was provided by a gift of more than $20 million from Edythe and Eli Broad. Eli Broad is chairman of AIG SunAmerica and has been a Caltech trustee since 1993.
“Just as the 20th century was a period of major advancement for chemistry and physics, the 21st century will be the golden age for biology,” Eli Broad said at the building’s dedication.
The Broad Center’s critical areas of investigation will be magnetic imaging, computational molecular biology, and investigation of the biological nature of consciousness, emotion, and perception.
Author Paul Napolitano is a writer for McGraw-Hill Construction.
Originally published 1st quarter 2003, in arcCA 03.1, “Common Knowledge.”
