A biweekly publication for faculty and staff

Today: Topping Out Ceremony for Student Services Building

February 11, 2013

UC Merced celebrates today its second topping-out ceremony in less than a month for the campus’s next building – the Student Services Building (SSB).

A ceremony is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Scholars Plaza, adjacent to the construction site. Light refreshments will be served. 

The 33,400-square-foot building comprises a pavilion facing Scholars Lane that can be used for lectures, classes and events; a three-story section along Ansel Adams Road for instruction and student-services spaces at each level. The building overlooks the natural landscape beyond.

The two buildings form a triangular courtyard overlooking LeGrand Canal. The multi-level outdoor circulation space will facilitate student interaction and views back to the main campus while providing shade to the main structure to reduce energy needed to cool the building during the San Joaquin Valley’s hotter months.

With the pavilion section due to open this fall and the three-story section to open in late fall, the building will feature an exposed steel structure and cement-plaster skin with large windows at public assembly spaces that take advantage of the various views.

The total project cost is $19.8 million, primarily from the UC Office of the President.