Project Data: 

Completion Date:     5/1/2025 

Square Footage:      74289 

Building Use:           Educational Research Facility 

Project Description: 

The new Institute for Quantum Studies building revitalizes a culturally significant site, transforming it into Chapman University’s premier hub for research, development, and public outreach within the field of quantum mechanics. The LEED Gold certified project consolidates the Institute’s previously scattered presence into a centralized area on campus, uniting the historic Lydia D. Killefer School with a new complementary structure. The two-scheme building design breathes life back into a long-vacant site, creating spaces that support collaboration and discovery while introducing a warm, human-centered aesthetic often missing from research facilities.

Built in 1931, the original Killefer School building is a nationally registered historic building built in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. The school’s legacy includes being California’s first voluntarily desegregated school, two years ahead of the monumental Brown v Board of Education decision. The adaptive reuse preserves and restores defining features such as the octagonal tower, terracotta vents, and low-pitched roof. New interior and exterior gathering spaces, innovation zones for informal collaboration, state-of-the-art laboratories, and offices bring the building into its next chapter. The existing lobby has been restored with educational displays to honor the surrounding Hispanic community of Cypress Barrio, thereby embedding a rich cultural memory into the campus fabric.

The addition is a two-story structure with a massing that frames a central courtyard maximizing natural light. Its plaster cladding consists of a striated texture in a warm hue, referencing Killefer’s original materiality with a contemporary identity. Terracotta tiles at the ground level create a connection to the residential scale of the neighborhood.

Outdoor spaces serve as a critical design element, offering areas for both individual respite and group engagement. Three distinct courtyards include a quiet meditative garden, a flexible open-air gathering space, and a communal social area. Each one extends the concept of the cloister, providing researchers and visitors with opportunities for focus, connection, and reflection. A preserved oak tree anchors the southern courtyard, while native California plantings and pollinator-friendly landscapes create a lasting ecological presence across the site.

Designed as a hub of world-class research and profound cultural significance, the project repositions the Killefer School as a beacon of innovation and social progress. It embodies Chapman University’s commitment to honoring history while advancing the frontiers of quantum science. 

Design for Integration, Design for Energy, Design for Well-being, Design for Resources 

FRAMEWORK Q1: Design for Integration

The primary charge of the project is to transform this historically significant and once-abandoned site into a cutting-edge research space with highly specialized labs. At the same time, the client aims to move away from the sterile atmosphere often associated with research facilities while respecting the local historic residential context and preserving the building’s most important history. The goal is to create a space that supports focused inquiry while feeling warm, inviting, and human centered. This vision shapes every aspect of the design, from programming to the material palette.

A warm color and material scheme draws from early 20th-century Spanish Revival influences and the agricultural landscapes of Orange, California. Cognac, rust, green, and teal tones are layered with earthy terracotta tile, limewashed plaster, and matte white oak to create a natural, residential feel. The result is a space that feels grounded and refined—calming yet designed to spark connection.

Organized around a cloister-like layout, the building and site define three distinct courtyards. Each outdoor space directly supports adjacent interior uses and encourages broader engagement with the campus community. The central courtyard supports larger gatherings and events.

Sustainable strategies include wood construction, daylight-oriented planning, and passive systems optimized through energy modeling. The result is a space that balances beauty and performance, history, and innovation.



FRAMEWORK Q6: Design for Energy

The project applies a best-practice, integrated approach to high-performance design. A full energy simulation informed key decision, including baseline and proposed EUI, greenhouse gas emissions, and optimized insulation for the existing building. The study showed that insulating the roof would reduce heating demand but increase cooling demand, prompting a balanced strategy.

The new lab building is fully electric and includes a rooftop PV system that offsets 7.5% of the building’s total energy use. A VRF mechanical system with economizers, daylight sensors, and roller shades supports energy efficiency and occupant comfort. The site and building layout prioritize daylight access for most regularly occupied spaces.

The energy model projected a 40.8% reduction in energy use, a 24% reduction in energy costs, and a 33 % reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, exceeding code and LEED v4 benchmarks. Performance is monitored through Chapman University’s building monitoring system. An enhanced commissioning process was also completed to ensure proper system operation over time.

These strategies collectively support long-term performance, occupant well-being, and environmental responsibility. The project delivers an efficient, responsive research environment that meets the university’s sustainability goals without compromising comfort or usability.

Metric on Design for Energy:

Using ZeroTool, what is the 2030 Commitment baseline EUI (in kBtu/sf/yr) for the project?
64kbtu/sf

What was the predicted EUI (in kBtu/sf/yr) of the project, including on-site renewables?
42kBtu/sf/yr

What was the percent reduction from the benchmark?
40.8%

Is the project all-electric?
Yes



FRAMEWORK Q7: Design for Well-Being

The project emphasizes wellness and well-being as a featured design element. The building form creates three distinct outdoor rooms, allowing users not only to have exterior programmable space but also to connect to the outdoors. These spaces offer peaceful soundscapes, ample daylight, and views of drought-tolerant landscaping, as well as handcrafted building elements.

Strategic circulation paths encourage further engagement with landscaped elements such as a built-in bench located within the communal outdoor room. The existing Killefer building includes covered exterior circulation along the west façade, serving as a shaded area.

The building's interior features temperature and daylighting controls for all regularly occupied spaces, entry mats at exterior doors, and insulation within the existing perimeter wood studs to enhance thermal comfort. This connection between interior and exterior is unique within the lab typology.

Metric for Design for Well-Being:

What level of air filters are installed?
MERV 12-14

Are direct views to the outdoors available from at least 90 percent of occupied spaces?
Yes

Was a “chemicals of concern” list used to inform material selection?
Yes



FRAMEWORK Q8: Design for Resources

The project prioritizes the restoration and reuse of existing materials to extend the life of the historic Killefer School building and minimize its embodied carbon footprint. The exterior material palette is guided by the goal of preserving the existing structure, including the restoration and repair of original copper balustrades, downspouts, and gutters, along with the preservation of terracotta vent pipes. Materials for the new lab building, including exterior plaster and terracotta tiles, directly relate to the original Killefer School palette.

Inside, existing materials, such as the original wood flooring, were cleaned, prepped, and sealed for reuse in the renovated building. Existing blackboards, once used by elementary students, are repurposed and redistributed throughout the space to support current research and discovery.

For new interior finishes, the design team used the Living Building Challenge Red List to maximize red list-free materials. These selections also improve acoustic performance and thermal comfort through perimeter wall insulation. The wood structural system used for the new lab building further reduces the project’s carbon footprint.

Metric for Design for Resources:

Were embodied carbon emissions estimated for this project?
No

What is the estimated embodied carbon emissions associated with the project, including the extraction and manufacturing of materials used in construction?
236.8 kgCO₂e/m² 

Firm Name:              Anki Pineiro 

Completion Date:     5/1/2025 

Square Footage:      74289 

Building Use:           Educational Research Facility 

Location:                 Orange, CA 

Design Architect: 

Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects: Patricia Rhee, FAIA, DBIA, LEED AP – Partner In Charge; Chad-Jamie Rigaud – Project Manager; Melissa Cataldo, RA – Architect; Nicholas McMillan, RA, LEED AP – Architect; Tiffany Mok, AIA, CDT, LEED GA - Architect  

Associate Architect or Firm: 

N/A 

Landscape Architect: 

SWA Group – Ying Yu Hung  

Owner / Developer: 

Chapman University - Collette Crepelle, VP of Campus Planning and Design  

Engineer: 

Sructural Engineer: Saiful Bouquet Structural Engineers – Saiful Islam

M/E/P Engineer: ME Engineers, Gary Mayeda

Civil Engineer: KPFF – Ali Khamsi

Acoustical Engineer: Waveguide LLC – Michael SantaMaria  

General Contractor: 

Del Amo Construction – Steve Nakano  

Consultant: 

Historic Preservation: Historic Resource Group – John LoCascio

Code: Woden Fire – Andy Thul

Waterproofing: Walter P Moore – Linda Fu

Audiovisual and IT: Salas O’Brien - David Batterfield  

Photographer: 

Nico Marques