UCLA Engineering: UCLA Engineer Spring 2003

Building for the Future

by Marlys Amundson and Christopher Sutton

With the passage of Proposition 47 last November, the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science is a step closer to realizing an important goal -- rebuilding Engineering I as a state-of-the-art building capable of supporting the School’s mission of excellence in teaching, research, and service.

The Engineering I building, constructed in 1950, has become an outdated facility unable to support modern lab equipment or provide a quality learning environment. Damaged by the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the building also poses a seismic safety hazard.

Proposition 47 provides the School with $24.9 million for a phased demolition and replacement of one-half of Engineering I with a new complex housing modern research labs, seminar rooms, and office space. The replacement building will have five floors and more than 43,000 assignable square feet.

The School’s new multi-million dollar interdisciplinary centers - the Center for Embedded Networked Sensing and the Institute for Cell Mimetic Space Exploration - will be housed in the building, as will portions of the School’s newest department, Bioengineering.

Of the total funding needed for construction, nearly 42 percent will come from the Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act passed last November, and an additional 34 percent will come from a portion of Dr. Henry Samueli’s previous gift of $30 million to the School. The remaining 24 percent will be raised through a capital campaign in the near future.

Support from our alumni and friends will enable construction of this state-of-the-art building that provides vitally needed space to engineering at UCLA. As the School continues to attract exceptional students and faculty who are leaders in their fields, the School’s ability to offer them facilities that will support their education and research becomes increasingly critical.

The main entrance to the new structure will be on the third floor, facing north to Portola Plaza and Kerckhoff Hall. The architects have designed the building with an eye to creating open space and connections from floor to floor to build a sense of community within the building. There is also a lounge near the main entrance on the third floor designed to encourage informal interactions among faculty and students.

To meet the School’s growing need for seminar and lecture space, the new building will offer a major seminar room on the second level, and three additional seminar rooms on the third, fourth, and fifth floors.

The new building also addresses many of the difficulties caused by Engineering I’s limitations. It is designed to allow for new types of high-tech equipment in the laboratories and to meet safety regulations for the handling and disposal of toxic materials through additional fume hoods and other measures.

On each floor there will be both wet and dry laboratories and on the first floor there is space for specialty labs requiring vibration-free flooring or an absence of natural light.

The new building also has significantly improved space for faculty and graduate student offices, as well as areas for administrative support. In the last five years, the School has added an additional 800 students and 16 faculty members, straining the limits of available space in Engineering IV and Boelter Hall.

The building is designed with connections to existing facilities, and will have elevated walkways to Boelter Hall and Engineering IV. As it will be visible from both Westwood Boulevard and the center of campus, the exterior will mirror the classic brick facade on the original UCLA structures.

When completed, the replacement building will make an important addition to the School’s existing state-of-the-art facilities in Boelter Hall and Engineering IV, and will enhance the work of our students and faculty for many years to come.

Upper images appear courtesy of the UCLA Urban Simulation Team
Lower images appear courtesy of Anshen + Allen - LA