The addition of the Integrated Sciences Complex is a new sensation at the University of Massachusetts Boston campus. “Everyone is walking around just kind of wide-eyed. It is an amazing building,” notes Associate Director of Media Relations Crystal Valencia.
“We have a lot of visitors in the building. People who are not necessarily coming in it for classes,” Valencia remarks. “They want to see it.”
The $182 million, 220,000 square-foot complex is the first new academic building on campus in nearly four decades. Equipped with first-class labs and research tools, the ISC is designed to be a state-of-the-art innovation in modern-day science.
“It is beautiful and bright,” states computer science major Hans Johnson. He explains how he feels captivated by the entire complex. “I fall in love with the place at the first sight,” he says. “It is so inviting and welcoming.” Johnson adds that the ISC is becoming his new place to study.
The best seems yet to come. According to Manager of Master Plan and Construction Communications Holly Sutherland, some construction, audiovisual, and touch-up work continues in other areas of the building. A café and several meeting rooms will open at a later date.
In addition, the landscaping will be completed during the spring season. “It is great that the university is building a new facility,” Francisco Rosado says. “This will make the campus look more beautiful.” Rosado is a freshman majoring in management who, similarly to Johnson, goes to the ISC to study and meet with his new friends.
The vacated spaces in McCormack and Wheatley Halls will be part of a project called the Renovation of the Existing Academic Buildings, which is, according to Valencia, in the planning stages.
Sutherland encourages all students, faculty, and staff to use the ISC’s expansive atrium — spanning all five levels, with harbor views — for study and socializing.
The ISC is adjacent to the Quinn Administration Building and the Healey Library. Signs direct the campus community to the ISC through a catwalk that connects to the plaza and the first floor of the Quinn Administration Building.
The ISC is open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.