Construction of the building, which is scheduled for completion in mid-1004, is considered a critical step in the Division of Biological Sciences' plans to make each of its undergraduate majors one of the five best in the nation.

"The Science Laboratory Building will be one of the best laboratory teaching facilities in the United States," says Tom Rost, associate dean of the division and chair of the building committee. "It's certain to raise our programs to a new state of prominence."

Award-winning architecture firm Zimmer Gunsul Frasca of Portland, Ore., was selected this spring to design the building. The firm has already designed several buildings for UC Davis, including the Life Sciences Addition, completed in 1996, and the Plant and Environmental Sciences Building, now under construction. Rost says he has been impressed by the firm's ability to understand the culture of the campus and, most recently, the objectives of the Science Laboratory Building.

"We want the building to have a strong sense of place and purpose," notes Rost. "When you walk in the front door, you'll be faced with displays of plants and animals and be immediately aware that you're in a biology teaching facility."

The building will also be designed to encourage people to gather and study. Informal meeting places will be created both indoors and out, and space for a coffee shop will be located just inside the front entrance. A new outdoor plaza will be created in front of the building, which will be located south of Storer Hall and east of the Life Sciences Addition.

The Science Laboratory Building will be funded primarily through a 1998 state bond act. Plans are also underway to build a privately funded facility that may house the division's Botanical Conservatory and UC Davis Herbarium, both of which are used extensively for public outreach programs.