UC Riverside was honored at the city of Riverside’s annual beautification awards for its new School of Business building.

The new four-story building, which opened last fall, received the Sustainable Design & Innovation Award as part of the Keep Riverside Clean and Beautiful Awards on Thursday, Jan. 30.

The program, now in its 38th year, is sponsored by the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce and the City of Riverside’s public works department. It looks at criteria such as architectural design, general maintenance, and landscaping in recognizing significant buildings and projects.

The award was presented at Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson’s State of the City address with Yunzeng Wang, dean of the School of Business, accepting on behalf of the campus.

“We are honored to receive this recognition of the School of Business’s beautiful new home, which has become a vibrant center for students, faculty, and staff,” Wang said.

The 63,400-square-foot building includes classrooms, administrative and faculty offices, and a large auditorium. It provides the school with a state-of-the-art facility with increased space to meet fast-growing enrollment.

In honoring the project, the chamber highlighted the building’s sustainable features, which include a 216-kilowatt solar array on the roof, perforated metal fins along the windows to reduce glare and heat gain, and drought-tolerant landscaping. 

The building is LEED Platinum-status, meeting leading industry standards for energy efficiency and sustainability. It’s the third campus building to gain that certification.

“All of this is thoughtfully designed with care to be at once both functional and beautiful,” said Jacqueline Norman, campus architect.

This is the sixth consecutive year that UCR projects have been honored at the awards. In past years, the School of Medicine Education Building II, the Student Health and Counseling Center, and Student Success Center have won awards.