San Jose State University Celebrates Science Building Top-Out

By SCN Staff

SAN JOSE, Calif.—McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. (McCarthy), a national design-build general contractor, in collaboration with FLAD Architects, recently celebrated a major project milestone with the topping out of a new Interdisciplinary Science Building (ISB) on the San Jose State University campus, the first new academic building on campus in more than 30 years and the first new science facility in almost 50 years. Hundreds of students, faculty and staff commemorated the occasion by signing the final structural beam before it was lifted to its final resting place.

The eight-story design-build project will serve the 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students within the College of Sciences and STEM majors from across the university, and is the first phase of the San Jose State University’s new Science Park, a science and innovation center highlighting the University’s commitment to dynamic research and innovation. In addition to research and teaching labs, the facility will feature specified rooms provided for student research teams to gather and work away from chemicals and instrument setups to discuss the results of projects called “collaboratories.” Each floor of the ISB will also include collaborative hubs for students and faculty to work together. Throughout its 161,200 square feet, the building will contain modern, state-of-the-art science laboratories and research capabilities in order to meet the needs of students within the disciplines of biology, chemistry, biochemistry, biotechnology and high-performance computing.

The project is targeting LEED Gold in order to meet the sustainability objectives of the San Jose State University campus. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, the ISB will provide opportunities for students and faculty to collaborate with their Silicon Valley industry partners.

“The new ISB aims to transform the way science principles are taught and boost the University’s student offerings to new heights with a top-tier facility,” said McCarthy’s Project Director Jack Carter. “The design-build delivery is a critical component in delivering a superior building that meets the project’s goals of making research, teaching and collaboration inseparable.”