The Chaparral Hall Science Building consists of a new state-of-the-art teaching and research facility for CSUN’s graduate and undergraduate biology and mathematics program. The program consists of a 4-story 90,000 gsf Science teaching building housing wet research, teaching, and computation research labs; core lab facilities, a 5,000 sf vivarium, faculty and administration offices, and classrooms. The building is comprised of two distinctive clusters that separate research from teaching facilities. Faculty offices link the two clusters together, creating communal and collaborative space. The complex encompasses a four-story outdoor lobby and plaza and a three-level outdoor public staircase.
The structural system for the new science building consists of steel construction with eccentric brace frame as the lateral system. A significant part of the building floor area was designed to a restrictive vibration criterion of 4,000 micro-inches per second (for laboratory). The steel scheme was selected as the most cost-effective system after an in-depth evaluation of several concrete and steel options.
