The accolades keep piling up for UC Riverside’s School of Business building.

Since opening in September 2024, the 63,400-square-foot structure has captured five prestigious awards for features ranging from its striking visuals, sustainable design, practical function, and safe construction.

“This facility is more than just a visual landmark at the gateway of campus. It is a state-of-the-art engine for upward mobility and a testament to UCR’s rising national profile in business education,” said Yunzeng Wang, dean of the School of Business.

The most recent honor came from the Brick Industry Association, which named the building a 2025 “Best in Class” winner for its innovative use of thin brick. Judges praised the modern façade for combining “warmth and approachability” with construction efficiency, thanks to a thin-brick system that reduced structural load and cost while delivering the aesthetic depth of traditional brickwork.

“This project truly embodies design excellence,” said a statement from the Athenaeum. “It reflects the best of what academic architecture can be—functional, inspirational, and grounded in community.”

Design credit goes to Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners, with McCarthy Building Companies managing construction. The team worked closely with UCR stakeholders to create an academic hub that supports collaboration and engagement.  

Located on the east side of campus, the structure includes a large auditorium, finance and computer labs, and shaded courtyards that open to the surrounding hillside, merging indoor learning with outdoor gathering spaces. Its design reinforces the school’s mission to bridge academia and enterprise, offering state-of-the-art audiovisual classroom technology, including an electronic ticker board circling a classroom, showing stock prices in real time. 

The building also won the 2025 “Award of Distinction” from the Design-Build Institute of America’s Western Pacific Region. This award celebrates projects that demonstrate outstanding integration between design and construction teams under a single-responsibility contract. Judges said the UCR School of Business met every benchmark for success—completed on time, within budget, and without legal disputes.

The project’s sustainable features also stood out. The building is LEED Platinum-certified and integrates a 216-kilowatt solar array and photovoltaic canopies, which collectively reduce energy use by 73%. These elements helped the project become a finalist for a 2026 Constructor Award from the

Associated General Contractors of California. The AGC commended McCarthy’s team for adapting concrete mix designs and construction techniques to challenging site conditions while maintaining a flawless safety record.

That safety record—256,653 work hours without a single incident resulting in time off—was formally recognized with the Liberty Mutual Gold Safety Award, the insurer’s highest commendation. UCR and McCarthy fostered a culture where “pre-planning efforts and care in creating a safety culture empowered tradespersons to implement appropriate controls at all phases of the project,” said a statement from Liberty Mutual.

“These awards reflect our commitment to excellence in all that we do,” Wang said.