Cal Poly Builds William and Linda Frost Center for Research and Innovation

California Polytechnic State University is constructing the $125 million William and Linda Frost Center for Research and Innovation in San Luis Obispo, Calif. The four-story, 103,800-sf facility will collocate the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Science and Mathematics, and the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences. Featuring an expansive atrium, the interdisciplinary project will provide 19 flexible laboratory and teaching spaces, large general-purpose classrooms, faculty and staff offices, collaboration areas, a recording studio, and a sophisticated computer lab. A state-of-the art teaching kitchen will include a sensory lab for food and beverage sampling trials, and the Center for Expressive Technologies will enable liberal arts students to explore the intersection of technology and human expression. 

Designed by ZGF Architects with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory design consultant, the facility will offer modular labs that can be combined to produce open environments or subdivided to create instrumentation suites or special-use labs. LEED Gold certification will be sought the project, which will leverage natural ventilation strategies and passive heating and cooling systems to provide exceptional indoor air quality. Ground was broken on the Frost Center in May of 2018. Construction of the project is being delivered by Gilbane Building Company with completion expected in fall of 2021.