Case Western Reserve’s planned Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building is an unprecedented investment in research and collaborations. It also will create a more welcoming campus environment along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. | Rendering by HGA

Case Western Reserve University plans to build a $300 million Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building (ISEB), a potentially game-changing facility designed to catalyze collaborations that lead to breakthrough solutions. 

Scheduled to open in 2026, the ISEB will be a 189,000-square-foot structure that brings together faculty with distinct areas of expertise and promotes expansion of the university’s research enterprise. It also will offer the community a more inviting presence along the western edge of the main campus.

“It will be transformative,” CWRU President Eric W. Kaler said. 

The building is also critical to Kaler’s goal of growing annual research funding to $600 million—an increase of 50%. 

Slated to replace Yost Hall on the Case Quad, the ISEB will include a mix of modern labs. It also will offer opportunities for planned and spontaneous interactions among researchers that spark and support cross-disciplinary partnerships. 

The timing couldn’t be better for the College of Arts and Sciences, which has substantially increased research expenditures since 2020. 

“Together, our college faculty are creating a collaborative ecosystem that’s providing the foundational science that is essential for moving research in new directions and making transformative discoveries,” said Joy K. Ward, PhD, who, as dean of the college, played a key role in planning for the ISEB. She’s continuing to provide perspective as interim provost.

The design of the planned Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building encourages serendipitous conversations with many meeting areas. | Rendering by HGA

“Fields are not discrete anymore, they’re more of a continuum,” she said. “And that’s really the importance of this building—it will help take our experts out of silos by virtue of its design. It’s about getting together, talking about complex problems, seeing them from different viewpoints and coming up with solutions we couldn’t have done alone.” 

The university’s largest single investment in research, the building will also promote institutional efforts to attract and retain faculty as well as talented students seeking research opportunities with faculty. 

HGA, a national architectural firm with extensive experience in higher education, is designing the structure. 

The ISEB will open the western side of the Case Quad, creating a more welcoming gateway to the campus along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, while promoting more engagement with surrounding neighborhoods. 

“We want the ISEB to serve as a beacon in our community,” Ward said. “Researchers will work there every day to create solutions that benefit societal needs.” 

“Together, our college faculty are creating a collaborative ecosystem that’s providing the foundational science that is essential for moving research in new directions and making transformative discoveries.” — Joy K. Ward, Interim Provost

Read more about the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building in the fall/winter 2023 issue of CWRU’s Think magazine.

To donate to the new Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building, visit givecampus.com/a18ib4.