The Campus Engineering Center is scheduled to be completed in 2025 | campus

The new campus engineering center, construction of which began in summer 2023, is scheduled to be completed in the first half of 2025.

The center will expand by 35,500 square feet of space on two new floors, renovating and eventually replacing the original 1980 Bechtel Engineering Center. When the project was approved in September 2022, the UC Board of Regents estimated the total size at 82,700 square feet.

The aim of the construction is to improve the seismic assessment, maintenance requirements and absorption capacity of the facility.

“The Engineering Center project addresses enrollment-driven demands on existing space by providing more and improved collaboration and student spaces to support academic success and community,” wrote campus spokesman Kyle Gibson in an email.

The completed building will feature four floors of student spaces, including the Kresge Engineering Library, a student work gallery, and spaces for learning, gathering, meetings and collaboration.

The center will also feature outdoor spaces including courtyards, an events terrace, three terraces and a large main plaza.

“More than 75% of the new building will be spaces that facilitate student collaboration and informal interaction,” Gibson said in the email. “Not only are these spaces in high demand on campus, but they are also an integral part of students’ extracurricular experience.”

Gibson said the Bechtel Engineering Center was originally identified in a 2020 College of Engineering master planning study as a major renovation and expansion project to improve the student experience.

Renovations to the Bechtel Center were officially approved for construction by the regents in September 2022, with former UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ citing delayed maintenance and concerns about seismic construction.

Gibson said the construction will upgrade mechanical systems, replace exterior waterproofing, repair facades, remove architectural barriers and improve seismic performance.

UC Berkeley Capital Strategies is managing the project, Gibson said, with civil engineering from Skidmore, Owens & Merrill, contracts from XL Construction and landscape design from PGAdesign.

According to Berkeley Inspire, the funding includes a $30 million grant from an anonymous alum. The project was approved by the Regents in 2022. The estimated cost is $92.35 million, including $77 million in gift financing and $18 million in standby financing.

Gibson said the engineering center will include organizations, programs and activities focused on advising, career development, equity and inclusion, research, entrepreneurial skills, international programs, academic programs, graduate student services and K-12 outreach.

The Engineering Center is among several ongoing construction projects on campus, in addition to upcoming Moffitt Library renovations that will begin at the end of the fall 2024 semester.

“Engineering students have expressed that they want more and better places to gather and collaborate,” Gibson wrote in the email. “The College of Engineering is investing in the renovation and expansion of the Bechtel Engineering Center to do just that.”