Clayco Completes Siebel Center for Design at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

CHICAGO – August 10, 2021 – Clayco, a full-service, turnkey real estate, architecture, engineering, design-build and construction firm, has completed construction of the Siebel Center for Design at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The 60,000-square-foot building, designed for future flexibility and adaptability, is a multidisciplinary hub for student-focused design thinking in education.

Inside the building features 9,000-square-feet of collaboration space, nearly 5,000-square-feet dedicated to fabrication, an amphitheater, gallery, multimedia studio, and pop-up café for entrepreneurial food activities. The design also includes four team-based collaboration studios for up to 400 students, including one studio for large-scale construction and graded access for full-scale prototypes; a large workshop for 3-D printing, laser cutting, water-jet cutting and computer-controlled machining; one digital making studio for video and audio recording; and public gathering spaces, meeting rooms and galleries to encourage informal interaction.

Designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, the LEED Silver project located in the heart of campus includes architecturally exposed structural steel that required special fabrication, erection and field wielding. The first floor air flow ventilation system replaces traditional duct work in the facility, allowing for more ceiling space—a first on campus. The Clayco team also installed an earth retention system close to campus chilled water lines, which remained in service without incident.

Construction began in November 2018 and the facility will be open to students for the fall 2021 semester. The Clayco team also collaborated with design firm RATIO, Cotter Consulting and the University of Illinois Facilities and Services department to successfully complete the project.


About ClaycoClayco is a full-service, turnkey real estate development, master planning, architecture, engineering, and construction firm that safely delivers clients across North America the highest quality solutions on time, on budget, and above and beyond expectations. With $3.8 billion in revenue for 2020, Clayco specializes in the “art and science of building,” providing fast track, efficient solutions for industrial, commercial, institutional and residential related building projects. For more information visit www.claycorp.com.