Building 520, originally built in 1891, was rebuilt after the 1906 earthquake with the addition of Building 524 in 1912 to form the current Building 520/524. Clad in ashlar sandstone with a clay tile roof and small upper roof with clerestory windows, Building 520/524 has since housed laboratory and teaching spaces in a open trussed, daylit high bay interior space.
Over the years various small and large renovations to 520/524, including a concrete second floor and a warren of low ceilinged corridors and small rooms, decimated the daylit open trussed architectural DNA of the building.
The current project for the School of Engineering includes a vigorous seismic improvement to building 520 with new steel trusses and a full renovation of all interior spaces. The new design reorganizes the building into a single space with clear and open circulation. Openings within the second floor reclaim some of the original daylit high bay space and open trusses, updating and modernizing the facility for the School of Engineering’s next 50-100 years.
