SJSU Science Building to Serve STEM Majors

SAN JOSE—The Interdisciplinary Science Building on the San Jose State University campus is the first new academic building on campus in more than 30 years and the first new science facility in almost 50 years. McCarthy Building Companies Inc., in collaboration with FLAD Architects, recently celebrated the topping out milestone.

“The topping out of the Interdisciplinary Science Building brings us one step closer to a new era of science at San Jose State University,” said Michael Kaufman, college of science dean. “Having a building designed to carry out 21st Century science with modern, adaptable collaborative spaces will be transformative for the college of science, and provides an opportunity for students and faculty to approach scientific questions in a way that will propel the university to new heights.”

The eight-story design-build project will serve the 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students within the college of sciences and STEM majors from across the university. In addition, the Interdisciplinary Science Building will provide opportunities for students and faculty to collaborate with Silicon Valley industry partners.

It is the first phase of San Jose State University’s new Science Park, a science and innovation center highlighting the university’s commitment to research and innovation. In addition to research and teaching labs, the facility will feature specified rooms provided for student research teams to work away from chemicals and instrument setups to discuss the results of projects called “collaboratories”.

Each floor of the Interdisciplinary Science Building will also include collaborative hubs. Throughout its 161,200 square feet, the building will contain science laboratories and research capabilities in order to meet the needs of students within the disciplines of biology, chemistry, biochemistry, biotechnology and computing.

“The new ISB aims to transform the way science principles are taught and boost the university’s student offerings to new heights with a top-tier facility,” said Jack Carter, McCarthy’s project director. “The design-build delivery is a critical component in delivering a superior building that meets the project’s goals of making research, teaching and collaboration inseparable. The end product will be an exceptional building that provides modern research experiences.”

The project is targeting LEED Gold in order to meet the sustainability objectives of the San Jose State University campus. The project touts several sustainable design and targeted construction features that support a LEED Gold certification. Registered under LEED v4, the building’s sustainability highlights involve its location close to downtown San Jose to allow students, faculty and staff access to nearby public transportation options and basic services. The building also interacts with its surrounding community by minimizing the impact on the local heat island by incorporating a cool roof and light-colored paving and hardscape materials coupled with vegetative areas and tree shading, Andrew Murray, McCarthy’s ISB project director, tells GlobeSt.com.

“Energy performance is a fundamental component of any sustainable project,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “The design is estimated to reduce the building annual energy consumption to approximately 92 kBtu/ft/two years, representing an annual energy use reduction of approximately 32% against the baseline building, which was found to use ~156 kBtu/ft/two years.

The project is also connected to a recycled water line for non-potable needs such as toilet and urinal flushing that results in 89.21% potable water use reduction when compared to conventional fixtures using potable water. The indoor air quality will be protected during construction and for building occupants by the inclusion of low-emitting materials that have been tested according to the California Department of Health’s standards for volatile organic compounds emissions. Additional features include Environmental Product Declaration, Health Product Declaration and recycled content materials.

The design-build team is currently in the process of completing the final structural elements of the building and transitioning into the building enclosure and interior build-out phases, which entail fireproofing, framing and drywall. Quickly following, the major interior build-out activities will start and almost concurrently, installing and completing the exterior skin system.

“McCarthy is self-performing the concrete and rough carpentry work packages, which includes all of the formwork and concrete placement for the structural foundations, walls, slab-on-grade, elevated decks and mechanical pads,” Murray tells GlobeSt.com. “The ability to self-perform different work packages allows McCarthy to set the safety and quality tone across the whole project.”

The project is utilizing various forms of prefabricated systems, such as pipe racks, bathroom carriers, ductwork and lab casework. Prefabricating these elements in a controlled environment ensures high levels of quality, reduced waste and a safer environment. Fewer parts and pieces to assemble onsite leads to faster installation time in the field and less disruption among teams for access while installing. The overall benefits provide higher quality with faster construction durations and reduced costs, GlobeSt.com learns.

“To address the best way to incorporate research and student learning within the same space, the departmental vision of ‘stickiness’ became a concept of the design, and the building’s capacity to engage occupants over an extended time has been a guiding principle in this effort,” Murray tells GlobeSt.com. “With that goal, the ISB is conceived as an extended learning environment, leveraging basic program components to enhance communication and interaction.”

Three planning principles are central to this concept:

• Integrated research activities in proximity to the learning environment provides insight through visual connection, creates understanding of vocational possibility and through the presence of researchers during extended hours, provides a degree of oversight.
• Dedicated areas for student collaboration are given pride of place in plan and visual prominence in the composition. These rooms face directly onto the Paseo and create a student-centered public face for the building.
• Understanding that true collaboration is inherent in research environments, areas directly adjacent to the laboratories have been designed to provide an opportunity for collegial exchange and benefit from shared daylight and direct visual connection to the laboratories.