Architecture studio Perkins&Will has placed a series of greenhouses on top of a concrete structure to create this agricultural research centre in California. Called Riverside Plant Research One 1, the two-storey structure was created for the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (CNAS) at the University of California Riverside campus east of Los Angeles.
The facility is designed to support agricultural innovations such as drought-resistance crops and gives the university the ability to test novel agricultural techniques year-round. "It's really a machine, a tool for research," said Perkins&Will Los Angeles design director Yan Krymsky.
"But beyond that, we wanted to create a structure that spoke to the legacy of the university," continued Krymsky. Agricultural research has been taking place at the university since the early 20th century. The building sits amongst a cluster of greenhouses that have been in operation since the 1960s.
The 30,000-square-foot (2,787-square-metre) facility comprises a ground floor with serrated concrete walls. These help stabilise the temperature of potting rooms and growth chambers inside, located alongside staff amenities including a lobby, breakrooms and restrooms.
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