College Planning & Management magazine has selected Biola University’s science facility, the Alton & Lydia Lim Center for Science, Technology and Health, as the Grand Prize winner in their 2019 Education Design Showcase competition. The Lim Center, which opened in January 2018, is designed to be a space that inspires Biolans to make discoveries, pursue truth, solve problems and serve people.

Grand prize recognition acknowledges the unique design of Biola’s science facility and, according to College Planning & Management, the center “provides the best possible learning environment for all students at all levels of education.”

“It is a great honor to be recognized by College Planning and Management in their 2019 Design Showcase,” said Brian Phillips, senior director of facilities management. “Our sincere appreciation goes out to the team at Gensler Architects for delivering a facility that is beautiful, innovative and economical. Their design helped us cast a new vision for science instruction at Biola in the 21st century. The Alton and Lydia Lim Center for Science, Technology and Health is an exciting addition to the Biola campus.”

The center houses Biola’s School of Science, Technology and Health and is Biola’s largest academic building on campus. Biola set out to design an innovative, inspiring space for exceptional Christian students who want to pursue careers in the sciences. The result of that vision is the 91,200-square-foot facility that offers students access to extraordinary opportunities to learn, experiment and develop expertise. Twenty-four instructional laboratories customized to specific disciplines, a nursing suite with life-like manikins that can speak, bleed and even give birth, faculty research labs and collaborative areas where students can work on group projects together are a few of the features of the building.

The building is home to many different programs including nursing, biological science, chemistry, physics and engineering, and kinesiology. In the fall, three new undergraduate programs will launch — Bachelor of Science in Applied Physics, Bachelor of Science in Public Health, and Bachelor of Science in Health Science.

Entries for the design showcase were judged by a jury of administrators, architects, and facility planners for excellence in design and functional planning matching the needs of the education program. Criteria considered by judges included the planning process, students’ needs, innovation and creative solutions, site selection for the project, sustainability, safe and secure environment, and the visual and aesthetic qualities of the building.

Biola is featured in the June 2019 issue of College Planning & Management and the websites Spaces4Learning.com and webCPM.com. Both are industry-leading publications for those who work in university facilities departments.