Caltech George W. Downs Laboratory of Physics and Charles C. Lauritsen Laboratory of High Energy Physics

A disciple of physicist Richard Feynman, Hirosi Ooguri—Director of Caltech’s Institute for High Energy Physics—wanted to pay tribute to his mentor in his newly remodeled workspace.
Expressing a unique identity and passion in a place that doesn’t initially resonate or seem like it could work is a challenge we are intimately familiar with. Working within a 1967 former Department of Defense building on the Caltech campus, the Downs-Lauritsen building possessed “hospital-like” closed offices with limited access to natural light and few spaces conducive to interaction or group study.
In place of a large portion of the closed offices, we created a range of public spaces that encouraged faculty and students to leave their private spaces and interact in communal settings. The primary focus was to bring a relaxed, informal quality to the department and the “opening up” of the 4th floor to daylight and public accessibility created a new inspiring and authentic identity for the department.
Wide corridors connect one space to the next and glass walls partition offices from communal areas, contributing to the atmosphere of openness. Blackboards cover entire walls and interspersed couches, low tables and armchairs encourage prolonged brainstorming sessions. Armchairs and long wooden tables furnish class and meeting rooms, and the well-lit, color-block kitchenette includes a high table for dining or working, each detail serving the collaborative ethos.
A theoretical science, high-energy physics hinges on collective speculation and analysis. We created spaces conducive to student-faculty interaction and shared research, reimaging California Institute of Technology’s precast concrete Downs-Lauritsen building as an intellectually and physically transparent center.
FF&P designed a custom wall graphic for the elevator lobby that incorporates Feynman’s famous diagrams (as seen on his own van). The Feynman wall has become a showpiece, and a highly visible expression of the Institute’s identity. Kansas-based Ampersand Design Studio developed the cast-aluminum signage that is superimposed over the equation-inspired mural wall. DPR Construction collaborated with us, contributing to the project’s efficiency.