Claremont McKenna Opens Robert Day Sciences Center, a BIG-Designed Hub for Data, Life, and Climate Research

Claremont McKenna College has completed the Robert Day Sciences Center, a striking 135,000-square-foot academic building designed by BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group). The new facility brings together the disciplines of computer science, data science, and life sciences in one dynamic environment, marking BIG’s first built project in the Los Angeles area and the inaugural structure within the college’s Roberts Campus master plan.

The design and construction team includes Saiful Bouquet as structural engineer, KPRS Construction as general contractor, and IDS Real Estate Group as construction manager.

Claremont McKenna College Robert Day Sciences Center View 2

Claremont McKenna College Robert Day Sciences Center Aerial View

Claremont McKenna College Robert Day Sciences Center Night View

Located at Ninth Street and Claremont Boulevard, the building establishes a new eastern gateway to campus. Its distinctive architecture that is composed of stacked rotated volumes, creates an open multilevel atrium that visually connects research labs, classrooms, and collaborative spaces. The layout encourages interdisciplinary interaction, reinforcing the mission of the Kravis Department of Integrated Sciences to foster cross-field exploration in genetics, neuroscience, and climate research.

Claremont McKenna College Robert Day Sciences Center View 1

Each level of the center pivots 45 degrees from the one below, carving out angular voids that flood the interior with daylight and frame views of Mount Baldy. The design uses glass fiber-reinforced concrete panels with a board-formed texture, giving the façade the warmth of wood while ensuring the strength and fire resistance required for lab use. Inside, exposed Douglas fir trusses form a geometric lattice that extends from structure to ceiling, echoing the building’s expressive exterior pattern.

Claremont McKenna College Robert Day Sciences Center

Claremont McKenna College Robert Day Sciences Center Aerial View Interiors

The interiors accommodate wet and dry laboratories, classrooms, a Quantum Library, maker’s spaces, imaging suites, and the McElwee Forum. Social gathering areas—including a café and a cascading amphitheater stair—activate the central atrium. Eight outdoor terraces at the corners of each upper volume provide space for outdoor classes and study sessions, landscaped with native plants and oriented for panoramic views of the San Gabriel Mountains.

Claremont McKenna College Robert Day Sciences Center Aerial View Seating

Claremont McKenna College Robert Day Sciences Center Aerial View Douglas Fir Truss

In addition to its educational program, the Robert Day Sciences Center demonstrates the college’s commitment to sustainability. Its roof hosts 11,000 square feet of solar panels, producing an estimated 342 megawatt-hours of energy annually, and the building is targeting LEED Gold certification.

Photography by Laurian Ghinitoiu / Courtesy of BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) and Claremont McKenna College.

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