A front porch for the College of Engineering

Engineering has been a core academic focus at the University of California, Berkeley, since the institution’s founding in 1868. Over the course of nearly 160 years, Berkeley engineers have helped build California’s infrastructure, established numerous disciplines, and launched world-class research institutes and programs. Today, the campus’s “Engineering Neighborhood” spans more than a dozen buildings that reflect this evolution, ranging from the Hearst Memorial Mining Building, built in 1907, to 21st-century facilities with cutting-edge labs for nanofabrication, rapid prototyping, and bioengineering. The new Grimes Engineering Center sits at the college’s interdisciplinary heart, containing shared resources such as the Engineering Student Services offices, the Kresge Library, and the Eugene Jarvis Auditorium.

The Grimes Engineering Center transforms the previous Bechtel Engineering Center to accommodate the growth of engineering student enrollment. As Berkeley Engineering anticipates continued growth, the importance of the new Grimes Engineering Center is clear: it is the social core, interdisciplinary nexus, and front porch of the college. Through a project that adapts and builds upon the existing structure, the new Grimes Engineering Center will expand capacity and foster a dynamic culture of collaboration, inclusion, and innovation.

Renovation and transformation

The new Grimes Engineering Center conveys a welcoming presence that honors its purpose as a place for connection as well as its prominent location on the campus. The building is situated on the axis that extends from UC Berkeley’s iconic Campanile to the Classical Core—a series of neoclassical Beaux-Arts buildings which date back to the 1898 campus master plan—along the central Memorial Glade. The previous Bechtel Engineering Center, built in 1980, was a Brutalist-style building distinguished by stepped terraces and exposed concrete structural exterior walls.

Repurposing the original structure, the redesigned Grimes Engineering Center adds 35,570 square feet to the former facility with a glass-and-steel pavilion, light enough to sit atop the original foundation. The architecture of the pavilion and its integration with the foundation formally references the surrounding neoclassical buildings—echoing the proportions of a heavy base, rhythmic colonnade, and strong horizontal cornice at the top—expressed in a modern material palette.

The glass-enclosed pavilion, a counterpoint to the solid materiality of the original building, prioritizes access to daylight and outdoor spaces with a skylight at the center of the building, three stories of floor-to-ceiling windows, and terraces at the ground level and second story. The open, transparent design not only displays student activity but also exhibits the building’s resilient engineering. Structural systems are exposed, providing students an opportunity to examine the connections, gussets, dampers, rod-hung stairs, and an innovative tensioning system. In this way, the design provides immersive examples for students to experience solutions to engineering challenges. 

The building employs a seismic resilience system using shape memory alloy (SMA)—a remarkable metallic material with the ability to regain their original shape after being deformed due to stress or strain. Together with the university, SOM developed a system of tension rods with shape memory alloy cables. Deployed around the perimeter of the building, these cables can snap back into place after being deformed in a seismic event—much like a rubber band—protecting the structure against damage. This design constitutes the first-ever use of SMA technology in a lateral force-resisting system in new construction. As a visible feature of the building’s structural system, the SMA cables become a signature element of the building’s identity.

Building reuse as a strategy for sustainable growth

SOM conducted a whole lifecycle carbon assessment of the project, comparing plans to build upon and retrofit the existing structure with the demolition and construction of a new building of the same size and materials. This reuse strategy focuses on preserving the existing foundation and structural system, as well as spaces like the auditorium and library, and upcycling or recycling materials to minimize landfill waste.

Repurposing the former Bechtel Engineering Center as its base, the project introduces a two-story pavilion while selectively removing obsolete features to ensure structural integrity and load balance. The reuse strategy preserves the integrity of the original structure while significantly reducing the overall embodied carbon impact of the renovation and expansion.

Confirming our analysis, the project achieved a 45 percent carbon reduction in the structural system, a 29 percent reduction in the new exterior enclosure, and an over 90 percent reduction in demolition and off-hauling. With a more than 42 percent overall reduction in embodied carbon emissions, the new building demonstrates the environmental benefits of adaptive reuse over demolition and new construction, aligning with the University of California’s commitment to implementing broader sustainability policies.

An inclusive and dynamic campus hub

The new Grimes Engineering Center needed to be an inclusive space that welcomes students, faculty, and staff from diverse cultural and academic backgrounds. A rigorous engagement process with the college community brought to the fore three priorities that guided the design: visibility, belonging, and choice. The redesign expands, and aggregates the college’s student support programs and innovation services within the facility.

The Shyh Wang Forum, a three-story interconnected space, is designed to flexibly accommodate lectures, poster sessions, and industry events. Inclusivity and advising programs border the forum, easily visible to students. The Giancarlo Family Gallery, an exhibition space on the ground floor, provides opportunities to discover and engage with student projects.

The design brings together multiple groups into one dynamic facility. In addition to Engineering Student Services and engineering student groups, the Management, Entrepreneurship, & Technology (M.E.T.) dual-degree program, Engineering Science, and Applied Science & Technology programs will be housed in the Grimes Engineering Center. The building will serve as the hub for the Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology, fostering the development of entrepreneurs and innovators through university-wide courses. It will also host the Berkeley Center for New Media as well as programs focused on Inclusive Excellence, K-12 outreach, and international partnerships.