Six months after breaking ground, UC Riverside’s SoCal OASIS Park™ has one its most notable design elements in place.

Construction crews completed installation in December of the wood frame and paneling in the front portion of the building. 

The approximately 39,000-square-foot building will feature labs, maker spaces, and collaborative work areas; flexible office space for incubators and startups; and event and training spaces. The innovation and research hub is the first major project under the SoCal OASIS umbrella. OASIS stands for Opportunities to Advance Sustainability, Innovation, and Social Inclusion. 

The new building features sustainably sourced mass timber, a structurally sound engineered wood, and uses it in a way unlike any other UCR project, said Jacqueline Norman, campus architect.

Sourced from Oregon, the mass timber is part of the structural component of the building as well as its design, with extensive Accoya wood paneling to give a sense of warmth.

“It is especially lovely,” Norman said. “This building will have much more natural wood in it than any other on campus – proving that cutting-edge research facilities need not be sterile and drab but can provide a richness that will enliven the daily work.”

Mass timber helps meet campus sustainability goals with a lower carbon footprint compared to concrete and steel, she said.

The building is separated into distinct wings with the mass timber in the lobby and front offices that will include training and community rooms.  A middle section of the building will feature transparent PVC plastic panels while the back of the building is made of poured concrete and will house an atmospheric chamber. 

Steel beams are being installed on the top of the back section and are expected to be completed by the end of January, said Jonathan Chung, project manager. 

With the wood frame, concrete walls, and steel beams completed, the major structural elements of the building will be finished, he said. That will be followed by exterior work and installation of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, he said.