The new Robert Day Sciences Center at Claremont McKenna College, designed by BIG, aims to maximize multidisciplinary integration and collaboration. Each level of the 135,000-sq.-ft. The building is rotated in a different direction, channeling the flow of people and ideas between labs, classrooms, and the surrounding campus.
Commissioned in 2020, the Robert Day Sciences Center serves CMC’s community of 1,400 students. It marks BIG’s first completed project in Los Angeles and the inaugural building of the BIG-designed master plan for CMC’s Roberts Campus.
The master plan envisions a more unified academic environment, shaped by a series of interconnected buildings that extend the central mall and the adjacent sports bowl, currently under construction. Key collaborators on the Sciences Center include Saiful Bouquet (structural engineer), KPRS Construction (general contractor), and IDS Real Estate Group (construction manager).
Located at the corner of Ninth Street and Claremont Boulevard, with sweeping views of Mount Baldy, the Sciences Center forms a new eastern gateway to campus and fosters strong connections with other academic departments. A dramatic 15-ft. hovering canopy welcomes students, faculty, staff, and visitors into a sky-lit multilevel atrium buzzing with activity.
The building’s form consists of stacked volumes, each rotated 45 degrees from the floor below. The voids created by this rotation form the soaring central atrium, offering direct sightlines into classrooms and research spaces on every level. The atrium functions as the heart of the building, encouraging collaboration and embodying its architectural and academic mission.
The façade is clad in board-formed panels of glass fiber–reinforced concrete, producing a wood-like texture while ensuring durability and fire resistance. The roof supports 11,000 sq. ft. of solar panels, generating approximately 342 megawatt hours of energy annually.
Inside, each level bridges the one below, supported by triangular steel trusses clad in Douglas fir. These structural elements carry through to the exterior, creating continuity between inside and out. The atrium features a grand social staircase linking the first two floors and a café, establishing a lively communal hub.
Suspended 30 ft. overhead, Magnetic Field by artist Damien Ortega, an intricate representation of Earth’s magnetosphere, floats in orbit, composed of 18 metal rings and 1,476 colorful glass spheres.
The ground floor houses the McElwee Forum, a large seminar space, along with imaging suites. Upper levels contain classrooms, research spaces, dry and wet labs, the Quantum Library, and a maker’s space. Classrooms are arranged around the building’s perimeter, offering expansive views while maintaining separation from the central atrium.
Warm wood cladding, polished concrete floors, and accents in CMC’s signature red and gold establish a welcoming interior. BIG’s design also emphasizes adaptability, with reconfigurable classrooms and modular seating to accommodate future scientific advances.
Eight outdoor terraces located at the corners of each volume provide panoramic views of the San Gabriel Mountains, the campus, and the sports bowl. Landscaped with native flora, these multifunctional terraces serve as outdoor classrooms, study zones, or gathering spaces. The building is targeting LEED Gold certification.
As evening falls, the Robert Day Sciences Center glows against the San Gabriel Mountains, serving as both an academic hub and a beacon of research, innovation, and interdisciplinary discovery. Anchoring CMC’s eastern gateway, it redefines the surrounding campus as a vibrant place of intellectual exchange and inspiration.
Robert Day Sciences Center Project Details
Name: Claremont McKenna College Robert Day Sciences Center
Size: 135,000 sq. ft.
Location: Claremont, California, United States
Client: Claremont McKenna College
Architect: Bjarke Ingels Group
Collaborators: Saiful Bouquet, Acco Engineered Systems, Atlas Civil Design, MRY, Rosendin Electric, WSP USA, Jacobs, ARUP, KGM Architectural Lighting, Heintges, KOA, EWCG, KPRS, Herrick, Hortus Environmental Design, IDS Real Estate Group, Kleinfelder, Salamander, and Code Consultants Inc.
BIG TEAM
Creative Director: Bjarke Ingels
Partner-in-Charge: Leon Rost
Project Manager: Aran Coakley
Technical Lead: Amir Mikhaeil
Project Leader: Lorenz Krisai
Image credit: Laurian Ghinitoiu
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