LMN and Booth Hansen are pleased to announce the completion and opening of the Computer Design, Research, and Learning Center (CDRLC) at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). This new facility establishes a dynamic and inclusive home for UIC’s rapidly growing Computer Science department, uniting innovative learning, research, and collaboration spaces in a vibrant academic hub.

The CDRLC embodies UIC’s commitment to expanding access to computer science education and fostering technological innovation. The 135,000-square-foot building is organized around a five-story atrium filled with natural light, bringing together classrooms, labs, offices, and lounges into a cohesive academic ecosystem. This vertical commons serves as a collaborative hub, encouraging connection among students and faculty.

The design emphasizes warmth, porosity, and vitality, with refined precast concrete panels, bronze detailing, terra cotta accents, and wood finishes that create a welcoming atmosphere. The building’s gentle curve around Memorial Grove opens new visual and physical access to this beloved campus green space, while the central atrium forms a seamless connection to the existing Science and Engineering Lab Building. Interior elements—including a bronze mesh screen, curving walls, and bursts of color—foster comfort, orientation, and moments of delight throughout the space.

At its core, the CDRLC is a hub for student engagement. The first two floors house active learning environments, dedicated student spaces, and an undergraduate learning center, while upper levels support faculty, graduate research, and specialized labs. Amenities such as open study areas, a café, and a multipurpose event room invite the broader university community to participate in campus life. Robotics and visualization labs, visible from the atrium, showcase cutting-edge research and innovation.

“Scala,” a 40-by-40-foot, 17,000-pound art installation of undulating octagonal forms crafted from solid poplar by artists Edra Soto and Dan Sullivan, anchors the atrium. Commissioned through Illinois’ Art-in-Architecture program, this striking piece integrates public art by local artists into state-funded projects like the CDRLC, enriching the building’s cultural and visual identity.

Sustainability is central to the project, with a geothermal field beneath Memorial Grove supporting passive heating and cooling, and glazing designed for daylighting and comfort. The CDRLC bridges UIC’s architectural heritage with a renewed focus on collaboration, sustainability, and inclusivity, nurturing both the campus environment and its occupants.

UIC celebrated the grand opening of the CDRLC on July 16, marking a major expansion of engineering facilities on the east side of campus. The new center provides vital research and learning spaces for the College of Engineering’s Department of Computer Science, serving approximately 2,100 undergraduate students.

LMN, recipient of the 2016 AIA National Architecture Firm Award, is recognized for designing projects that support smart, sustainable cities. The firm’s portfolio includes more than 154 projects on 52 campuses nationwide, such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Center for Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, the Voxman Music Building at the University of Iowa, Clifton Court Hall at the University of Cincinnati, the Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business at Clemson, and the Interactive Learning Pavilion at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Booth Hansen, established in 1980, is a nationally recognized architectural design firm that approaches each project with a disciplined and iterative process in which ideas, rather than trends and stylistic constraints, drive the design process. Among Booth Hansen’s academic portfolio is The Residential Dining + Student Center, an award-winning LEED Silver Certified renovation and addition that revitalized original 1960s University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign buildings to provide a welcoming, state-of-the-art community gathering space for the engineering program, including The Garage, a workspace for students’ entrepreneurial projects.

Design: LMN Architects
LMN Project Team: John Aldredge, Emily Ciaccio, Michael Day, Jennifer DuHamel, Howard Howlett, Euiseok Jeong, Susan Lowance, Vernita Lytle, Mark Nicol, Charlotte Phillips, Lisa Sato, George Shaw, Lanting Su, Stephen Van Dyck
Executive Architect: Booth Hansen
Booth Hansen Project Team: Larry Booth, Scott Cyphers, Chad Hanley, Michael Jividen, David Mann, Eric Runnfeldt, Sarah Thompson
Photography: Bruce Damonte