Caltech Resnick Sustainability Center

The four-story Caltech Resnick Sustainability Center (RSC) serves as the hub for energy and sustainability research on campus, as well as the home of state-of-the-art undergraduate teaching laboratories. In addition, the RSC amplifies and expands the work of the Resnick Sustainability Institute (RSI) established at Caltech over a decade ago. The north and west elevations of the RSC consist of a mass timber structural “gridshell”, supported from the primary concrete structure of the lab cores. The mass timber primarily supports the common circulation areas around the atrium and west side of the lab core, and provides intermittent support for the "organic" curtain wall. The columns and beams are glue-laminated (glulam) timber beams made from douglas fir and fabricated on the west coast of the United States. The floor is cross-laminated timber (CLT) also made of doug fir and layered with a polished concrete topping slab. This mass timber gridshell extends from level 1 to the roof and is visible throughout the north and west common spaces of the building. It is finished with a clear protective coat, allowing the natural grains of the wood to warm the space and provide a connection to the natural world. It is also consistent with the sustainability goals of the building.