A presentation to the Pasadena Design Commission unveils an updated look for a proposed quantum research center at Caltech.

The Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg Center for Quantum Precision Measurement, which is named for donors Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg, would rise from a currently vacant portion of the campus 1200 E. California Boulevard, located between Hill and Wilson Avenues. The new four-story, 65,000-square-foot building would include offices and laboratories above two levels of subterranean labs space, as well as an adjoining pavilion containing a seminar room, additional offices, and building systems. The new construction would be connected to the adjacent Downs Lauritsen through a pedestrian bridge.

Street levelHOK

"The proposed buildings are heavily contemporary in style, incorporating angled volumes and modern materials reflective of the site’s proposed usage as a laser laboratory and office," reads a staff report describing HOK's design for the project. "While the style is contemporary, the exterior has been articulated to reference horizontal and vertical cadence patterns seen on the adjacent historic buildings. The four-story building in particular draws from the fenestration patterns, pilasters, and solid-to-void rhythms of Linde Hall and incorporates these rhythms into the glazed curtain wall systems to be used on the building as well as the proposed vertical fins proposed throughout the exterior."

The design has undergone several changes to reflect staff and commission feedback at a July 2023 meeting, and is recommended to receive conditional approval for concept design review.

Interior campus viewHOK

The quantum center, which will be used to "develop tools and concepts with the potential to influence all areas of science and technology through unprecedented sensing, measurement, and engineering capabilities," was announced by Caltech in early 2022.

This is the second recent expansion at the Caltech campus to go through the Pasadena Design Commission, following the new Resnick Sustainability Center.

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