The George Thomas Building, built in 1935 in a prominent position on the University of Utah’s president circle, was originally designed to house the campus library and was converted to the Museum of Natural History in the 1960s. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, its significant features include the cast stone façade, dramatic double height reading room and art-deco detailing.

With the museum currently being relocated, the university has identified the building as the new home for the College of Science and Center for Cell and Genome Research. The project includes rehabilitation of the building and the adaptive reuse of historic areas into classrooms, laboratories, meeting and tutorial spaces. A major addition is located at the rear of the building to house research laboratories, which face a light-filled atrium centered around the historic stair.

Laboratories and classrooms are designed to be highly flexible and to accommodate a changing research and educational program. The organization of the building with views into research and teaching laboratories from circulation spaces, is designed to promote interdisciplinary and cross-departmental interaction between students, researchers and faculty.