Campus construction and architecture
Caltech is small but prizes excellence and ambition, and that emphasis applies to architecture on the 124-acre campus as well as research and education. Here, you can find information about current construction and renovation projects, design honors, small business support, and the plans governing Caltech construction, with links to learn more.
Current projects
Caltech works to minimize any interference to traffic, parking, or quality of life caused by campus construction projects. However, we know disruptions are inevitable, and we appreciate your patience. Crews are required to follow city construction guidelines and safety protocols, and trucks use city-advised routes.
Ginsburg Center
Caltech is building the Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg Center for Quantum Precision Measurement, with completion expected in 2026
"This new building will be a catalyst not only for scientific progress, but also for economic development and community enrichment throughout our region and beyond. I eagerly anticipate the breakthroughs the Ginsburg Center will make possible."
—Assemblymember Chris Holden, at the August 10, 2023, groundbreaking
The Ginsburg Center will expedite discoveries in multiple scientific fields and help students learn to collaborate at the rich interfaces of quantum physics, computer science, engineering, astronomy, chemistry, and biology.
Please anticipate more trucks and street sweeping in the area through January while the basement is excavated and concrete is poured. Per city guidance, trucks will exit the 210 freeway on Hill Avenue, travel to the site on California, and return via Wilson Avenue, Del Mar Boulevard, and Hill. Please visit the Caltech Facilities website for further construction information, more in-depth updates, and FAQs.
Public meetings: We thank local and campus community members for coming to meetings and helping us refine plans to limit disturbance during construction. The City of Pasadena's Design Commission considered and approved the design, holding three public hearings. The Planning and Community Development Department approved a conditional use permit to build the Ginsburg Center after holding a public hearing. Caltech held a design and construction open house on campus in October 2023. These meetings included short presentations by Caltech Facilities Associate Vice President Dave Kang; Adaeze Cadet, an architect from HOK; and others.
Resnick Sustainability Center
The Resnick Sustainability Center, a hub for energy and sustainability research just north of San Pasqual Street on the east side of Wilson Avenue, has opened for classes and research and the surrounding landscape has been restored. Thank you for your patience during construction of this building, which already has won several architectural awards.
Please email neighbor@caltech.edu with any construction-related questions or concerns.
The plan that governs Caltech construction
This plan, approved by the City of Pasadena, sets forth rules and guidelines for development on campus:
Recent design recognition
AIA Pasadena & Foothill Merit Award
The Resnick Sustainability Center won a Merit Award from the Pasadena & Foothill chapter of the AIA, a leading architectural organization.
LA Times "8 Best New Architecture Projects for 2024"
The LA Times featured the Resnick Sustainability Center in its 2024 roundup of outstanding new architecture.
UNESCO Prix Versailles
The Chen Neuroscience Research Building won an international design prize, the UNESCO Prix Versailles for the world's most beautiful campuses. The award recognizes beauty, ecological efficiency, and the reflection of local, natural, and cultural heritage.
AILA honors the Resnick Sustainability Center
The American Institute of Architects Los Angeles recognized the design for the Resnick Sustainability Center with a 2021 NEXTLA Honor Award. The design was also featured in Dezeen, a prominent architecture and design magazine.
Pasadena Beautiful recognizes two recent Caltech projects
Pasadena Beautiful's 2021 Commercial Design Awards honored Caltech's garden-wrapped Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Neuroscience Research Building and a complex of 1920s bungalows that Caltech moved from the neuroscience building site to San Pasqual Street and carefully restored and landscaped. The awards, conferred every five years, recognize efforts to create exceptional landscapes that benefit the environment, the community, and people who work and live nearby.