The University of Hawaiʻi’s Office of Project Delivery, in collaboration with UH Community Colleges, UH West Oʻahu and UH Hilo, is leading capital improvement projects (CIPs) that are transforming all 10 campuses across the state.

From new construction to critical renovations, these projects modernize facilities, improve energy efficiency and enhance the student experience. Guided by the six-year CIP plan approved by the Board of Regents (BOR) in 2022, more than 70 projects totaling more than $220 million have been completed or launched since 2023 (as of November 2025).

Watch the 2025 video of the progress being made on the projects identified in the plan that support learning, innovation and sustainability across all 10 campuses. The new video follows a 2022 video highlighting the achievements of the university’s first six-year capital improvement plan approved by the BOR in 2016.

Highlights covered in the 2025 video include:

• $26-million renovation of Bachman Hall completed in 2024
• $62-million Student Success Center opening in 2026
• $105-million transformation of McCarthy Mall and Paradise Palms now underway
• $6.5-million renovation of UH Hilo’s Campus Center
• Phase 2 of Kapiʻolani Community College’s Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Diamond Head set to open in 2026
• Leeward CC’s Wahiawā Value-Added Product Development Center opened in 2024

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumna Kiana Yamat is back at her alma mater. This time, the College of Engineering graduate and Miss Hawaiʻi USA 2022 is serving as a project engineer for the construction transformation at the heart of the Mānoa campus.

Yamat runs the office team for Hensel Phelps, the construction company in charge of the Mānoa Mini Master Plan.

She plays a key role managing contracts, ordering materials and handling finances in order to make these major upgrades to McCarthy Mall possible.

“It’s surreal and it’s an honor,” said Yamat. “Using the talent and experience gained from school, we are building something that impacts more than just the campus itself.”

Giving back for future generations

A major part of the project is the construction of a modern building for interdisciplinary learning, which will replace Snyder Hall as the home of the College of Education.

Being a part of this opportunity is especially meaningful to Yamat, whose mother is a retired public school teacher with a special education background.

“Knowing that there are people like my mom that will one day influence the whole community, thatʻs a big deal,” said Yamat.

Paving her path

During her time at UH Mānoa, Yamat was grateful for the many resources and partnering programs that the College of Engineering had to offer. It was through the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) UH Mānoa student chapter, which she was president of, that Yamat landed her current engineering role.

When Hensel Phelps presented to ASCE at one of their club meetings, it opened her eyes to civil engineering, a path she had not previously considered. Yamat connected with UH alumni at Hensel Phelps, who encouraged her to join the team.

Now, Yamat is on the other end, inspiring future engineers. Her company continues to partner with the ASCE student chapter.

“I want students to realize that no job is too small to be impactful,” said Yamat. “From the interns that we have on site all the way to the higher-ups, all of us are a piece of shaping something the public gets to see.”

—By Josslyn Rose

The University of Hawaiʻi will break ground on a major capital improvement project in early 2025 to transform the heart of the UH Mānoa campus.

The project on McCarthy Mall has two phases: 1) the construction of a modern, five-story building for interdisciplinary learning and 2) significant upgrades to the iconic tree-lined mall and the Paradise Palms Food Court. It is tentatively scheduled for completion by the fall of 2027.

“This is one of the most transformational projects for the UH Mānoa campus in decades,” said UH President David Lassner.

“The new academic building will provide modern educational facilities and bring our vibrant College of Education together with collaborators and resources in other schools and colleges. And the project will fully activate McCarthy Mall as a place to actively engage rather than just transit between buildings.”

• Watch a “fly-through” of the planned McCarthy Mall transformation
• Watch a “fly-through” of the planned Interdisciplinary building

Interdisciplinary Learning Facility

The planned five-story, 77,575-square-foot facility is located on the ma uka (mountainside) of McCarthy Mall, where Snyder Hall once stood, and will be connected to Edmondson Hall. The first two floors will feature 13 small classrooms, two medium classrooms, and one large classroom, available for all UH Mānoa departments, colleges and schools.

“The goal is to create spaces that foster community, learning and collaboration,” said UH Mānoa Provost Michael Bruno. ”The modern classrooms and expanded outdoor areas will offer students and faculty comfortable, engaging environments.”

The top three floors will house modern, collaborative office spaces and conference rooms. The College of Education (COE) will occupy the third and fourth floors, and about half of the second floor. The College of Arts, Languages and Letters (CALL) will be on the fifth floor.

“The faculty and staff were asked to participate in the design of the work spaces, which meant a lot to everyone involved,” said CALL Dean Peter Arnade. “It has been a true collaborative effort for a facility built for collaboration.”

COE will relocate from its current location at the corner of University Avenue and Metcalf Street, across from the main campus.

“I commend our faculty and staff for embracing this move because it will be great for our college and the students we serve,” said COE Dean Nathan Murata. “It is going to be so much more convenient for our students and their access to campus resources.”

McCarthy Mall, Paradise Palm upgrades

Improvements to McCarthy Mall include widened walkways, lots of additional seating, electrical outlets, and enhanced lighting. The shaded area under the Monkeypod trees will accommodate more than 500 students with more seating options—benches, tables with umbrellas, and tablet-arm chairs, creating a more inviting and comfortable space for students to gather and study.

The Paradise Palms Food Court renovation will add a larger entrance facing McCarthy Mall with a 75-by-70-foot photovoltaic glass canopy. The canopy will provide natural light and generate renewable energy while also creating more outdoor space for students with high stools, tables, and outlets for up to 200 people.

“We are incredibly grateful to the Hawaiʻi State Legislature for their unwavering support of this groundbreaking project,” said UH Vice President for Administration Jan Gouveia. “Their commitment to higher education is making it possible to create modern, collaborative spaces that will enhance the learning experience for our students and faculty alike. This project will help shape the future of UH Mānoa and cultivate a vibrant, innovative campus for generations to come.”

Part of the plan

This project is the latest in a series of major construction projects that are improving campus life. Other projects include the Isabella Aiona Abbott Life Sciences Building (completed 2020), the live-learn-work Walter Dods, Jr. facility (completed 2023), the renovation of Sinclair Library into a modern Student Success Center (opening fall 2025) and the Hale Haukani graduate students and faculty housing facility (opening fall 2025).

“We developed ambitious, long-range plans for the campus that were approved by the Board of Regents and we are systematically and successfully executing those plans,” said Lassner. “We have embraced and integrated new approaches including design-build methodology for construction projects and public-private partnerships (P3) to increase availability of housing.”

Lassner said those responsible for the successes including Gouveia and her team that spearheaded UH planning and construction, VP for Budget & Finance and CFO Kalbert Young and his team that learned to implement P3 to do more than what was possible with the limited public funding available to us, and Provost Michael Bruno and the Mānoa leadership team that changed the way the academic community views campus spaces.

“We are incredibly grateful for the support we received from the Legislature, the Governor and the Board of Regents, who trusted us and believed we could be transformational in our thinking and approach,” said Lassner.

The McCarthy Mall project and the new Student Success Center are the second phase of the UH Mānoa Mini Master Plan and part of the campus’s Long Range Development Plan, updated in 2020, and successive 6-year CIP plans, with the last one approved in 2022. The first phase included the demolition of Henke and Snyder Halls and the construction of the Abbott Life Sciences Building. The third phase, which still needs to be funded, includes either renovating or replacing Kuykendall Hall.

Design-build team

The Hensel Phelps design-build team was selected for the McCarthy Mall project with architectural and sustainable design led by Hawaiʻi-based KYA Inc. and global design firm Perkins & Will. The project integrates advanced LEED Silver standards for sustainability and energy efficiency, reinforcing UH Mānoa’s commitment to environmentally conscious development.

“The new design not only enhances functionality of educational and work spaces, it also reflects UH Mānoa’s vision of a sustainable, collaborative campus that brings students, faculty and the wider university community together,” said Peter Mercuris, Hensel Phelps Design Manager. “We are proud to partner with UH Mānoa on this transformative project, which enhances functionality.”

The Office of Project Delivery oversees the project and ensures it finishes on time and within budget. Design-build projects—where there is a fixed sum, single contract for the design and construction—are more likely to be completed on time and with fewer cost overruns than typical design-bid-build projects. It is one of the many industry best practices adopted by UH about a decade ago.

In an ongoing commitment to cultivate innovation and enrich the student experience, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is unveiling a new classroom in spring 2024 located in Dean Hall 104. Following in the footsteps of the Sakamaki Hall Innovation Zone, this new Dean 104 Culture Lab offers a teaching and learning space uniquely designed for diverse, innovative, culturally based courses taught across all disciplines at UH Mānoa.

Designed to accommodate 25 students, the de-centered classroom introduces multiple points of focus, fostering an inclusive and engaging learning environment. Located adjacent to Campus Center on the historic quad, faculty who are interested in submitting a brief proposal to teach in the Culture Lab for a spring 2024 course can visit this website.

More on the Sakamaki Hall Innovation Zone

“The newly designed culture lab offers the opportunity to align UH’s unique place with its classroom space,” said UH Vice President for Academic Strategy Debora Halbert. “Intentionally designed spaces can elevate the learning experience and facilitate innovative instructional methods. This particular classroom is an excellent example of such innovation and design.”

Dynamic space

Dean 104 Culture Lab features furniture that can be easily rearranged and repurposed, providing flexibility for multiple seating options. The space is tailored to accommodate performance activities associated with cultural practices and knowledge, such as music, dance, drama and storytelling. Collaborative endeavors, such as food sharing, are made possible by incorporating a countertop, cabinets and sink.

The space boasts multiple whiteboards and sliding, translucent writing surfaces. Windows located throughout the room allows for a lot of natural daylight, minimizing reliance on electricity and promoting sustainability. Included in the space is a OneScreen smart touchscreen, and “Bring Your Own Device” technology is supported by available charging towers throughout the lab.

“It is really important that a Center for Teaching Excellence is involved in creating spaces where faculty are eager to try out new practices for teaching and learning,” said Kathie Kane, director of the UH Mānoa Center for Teaching Excellence. “Providing a space that can accommodate these innovative practices is our way of supporting them.”

Drawing inspiration from Mānoa Valley

GD Design Hawaiʻi architect Glenn Yokotake drew inspiration from the rich history of Mānoa Valley, particularly focusing on the significance of agriculture and farming in the region. Historical photos of the valley informed his design, depicting the patchwork of various farm lots, which is translated onto the floor of the culture lab with three carpets blending into each other.

The original alignment of Mānoa Stream, which once passed directly through the modern-day UH Mānoa campus, serves as a central theme. Light blue dots on the ceiling and baffles (used to reduce sound) trace the historical stream’s path, with yellow baffles symbolizing its flow, and a large yellow pendant light representing the Mānoa campus.

A feature wall displays a vertical wood grille finish, a symbolic representation of Mānoa Valley’s forests. The grille incorporates different types of wood finishing, exhibiting the diverse tree species in the valley.

The Culture Lab is a continuation of UH Mānoa’s commitment to advancing education through innovative design, technology integration, and a deep appreciation for the rich history and natural beauty of Mānoa Valley.

“When we are able to renovate classrooms not only do we increase our capacity for face-to-face learning by having more classrooms available, but we also have the opportunity to rethink how the design of a classroom can influence the success of student learners,” said Halbert.

A $57-million renovation of a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa library built in 1956 will transform the four-story, 115,000-square-foot building into a state-of-the-art Student Success Center. Work on the major renovation project began in June 2023 and is expected to be completed in 2026.

The Student Success Center will be a vibrant hub of student activity that will encourage students to stay on campus, between classes and after hours. Three floors of the air conditioned building will be open space for student gathering, studying and socializing with comfortable seating, tables and ample electrical outlets. There will also be more than 30 conference rooms of various sizes for group study along with on-site academic advising departments, a computer lab and Student Store for food and beverages.

“This state-of-the-art center will have a significant impact on the student experience at UH Mānoa,” said UH Mānoa Provost Michael Bruno, an early champion of the project. “It will be very exciting when it opens as students will have a brand new facility where they can study, collaborate, learn from one another, take advantage of convenient academic services, grab a coffee and just be with each other.”

The Student Success Center will be located next to Hemenway Hall, close to the Campus Center and the Warrior Recreation Center. It is also next to the campus’s main city bus stop and right across University Avenue from the Residences for Innovative Student Entrepreneurs, the entrepreneurship center/student housing facility opening in fall 2023.

“We really want to create an environment and a place where students can thrive, and I think that’s really what is most important for us in this collaboration,” said Aaron Yamasaki, vice president division manager at Swinerton Builders, the Design Builder. “This is Hawaiʻi’s university and we want to make this great school even better and this project will do just that.”

The project includes a rooftop photovoltaic system to generate renewable energy and help as the renovation project strives to be LEED Silver certified. A modest step towards meeting the 10-campus systemʻs goal of zero carbon emissions by 2035.

The center will house the College of Social Sciences Digital Studios and feature a large study space on the first floor that can host and livestream campus events.

It will also be the new home of the award winning UH Mānoa Esports team. The team will have a modern gaming room to practice, compete and livestream competitions to the world. There will also be facilities for casual gaming available to all students.

Mahalo UH Mānoa Library

The building became available for the renovation project after the UH Mānoa Library agreed to relocate staff and materials in the now closed Sinclair Library to Hamilton Library.

“They embraced the challenge and worked with multiple academic units reviewing and assessing the materials,” said Bruno about the library’s leadership and staff. “We could not have done this without their cooperation.”

Building on success

The UH Office of Project Delivery is responsible for the project and for making sure it finishes on time and on budget. The office oversees Capital Improvement Projects large and small, including the Isabella Aiona Abbott Life Sciences Building that opened in 2020 and the expansion of the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex.

“A center for students was identified as one of the campus’s biggest needs and now it is our responsibility to turn that idea into a reality,” said Brandon Shima, Design Manager for the Office of Project Delivery.

Like the Abbott Life Sciences Building, the Student Success Center is a design-build project, where there is a fixed sum, single contract for the design and construction. Design-build projects are more likely to be completed on time and with fewer cost overruns, compared to the typical design-bid-build process. It is one of the many national best practices for capital improvement projects adopted by UH along with hiring highly qualified project managers and construction procurement specialists.

Read more about the UH Mānoa RISE center.
To apply, visit the RISE website.

“We need to demonstrate to the State of Hawaiʻi that every dollar invested in UH will be spent efficiently and effectively,” said UH Vice President for Administration Jan Gouveia. “We thank the state Legislature and the governor’s office for its support and know that we have to continue to prove that university projects are worth funding.”

Following the 6-year CIP plan

The Abbott Life Sciences Building and the Student Success Center were among the goals in the 2016 6-year CIP plan approved by the UH Board of Regents. The plan continues to deliver on many of its stated goals including a new $70-million, five-story facility planned for McCarthy Mall. The building will feature modern classroom and work spaces with construction scheduled to begin in 2024. The BOR approved a new 6-year CIP plan in November 2022 that aims to build on the previous plan and create more modern space-efficient facilities and outdoor spaces that leverage UH Mānoa’s unique sense of place.

Read more about the Sinclair student success center in UH News

More than 350 guests gathered to celebrate the grand opening of the $37-million Academy for Creative Media (ACM) Student Production Center at the University of Hawaiʻi––West Oʻahu on November 18.

“It’s a fabulous, state-of-the-art-capacity building that will really teach the future to our students,” said Chris Lee, founder and director of the Academy for Creative Media System. “This is really the hub for creative media education throughout the ACM System.”

Related: New state-of-the-art Academy for Creative Media facility ready for students, August 2022

The facility will link complementary facilities and programs throughout the UH System and across the state as a catalyst for Hawaiʻi’s intellectual property workforce. The facility features industry-standard equipment, including a Dolby Atmos 100-seat screening room and mixing stage, esports arena, post-production suites, emerging media lab, incubator space and industry-standard sound stage.

Creative media is fastest-growing degree program

The building aligns with the UH West Oʻahu’s fastest-growing degree program—the bachelor of arts in creative media. The program embraces new media through video, animation, video games, social media platforms, apps and virtual and augmented reality. The degree has concentrations in communications and new media technology, design and media, video game design and development and general creative media.

The Student Production Center is designed to stimulate Hawaiʻi’s production and creative media ecosystem, including the state’s growing film and television production industry. Hawaiʻi’s creative sector, which includes the film, music, digital media and arts industries, accounts for nearly 54,000 jobs across the state.

The new building serves as a connector between academic programming across the UH System and the delivery of hands-on experiences that will prepare students for jobs in motion pictures, video production, design and social media, as well as digital content creation, video game design and development, and the integration of storytelling and technology.

“This building means a lot,” said Joseph Baldueza, who received his bachelor’s degree from UH West Oʻahu in spring 2020, with a concentration in general creative media. “This program means a lot. It always had awesome instructors, a really good and challenging curriculum. Now it has a facility and the equipment to support what we already had.” Baldueza is now a production manager at Marine Corps Community Services Hawaiʻi.

Dignitaries and celebrities attend

At the grand opening and blessing ceremony, dignitaries, students, faculty, administrators, industry professionals, celebrities and supporters enjoyed opening music by UH West Oʻahu students, MW Restaurant fare and photo opportunities throughout self-guided tours of the facility.

Program speakers included Gov. David Ige, Lee, UH President David Lassner and UH West Oʻahu Chancellor Maenette Benham.

“It’s about giving our students the best opportunity that we can to chase their digital dreams, and we wanted to make sure that they had a world-class facility so that they would pursue anything and everything their dreams could come up with,” Ige said.

The program concluded with a celebrity panel discussion on “Representation in the Film Industry,” featuring Mark Dacascos, Hawaiʻi-born actor, director, TV personality; Bird Runningwater, Cheyenne and Mescalero Apache Tribes, who guided the Sundance Institute’s investment in Native American and Indigenous filmmakers; Amy Hill, Japanese-American actress; Malaysian comedian and actor Ronny Chieng; and Filipina-American actress and singer Kimee Balmilero.

The panelists shared insights on the importance of diverse voices in the film industry.

“It’s so important for this space (of diversity) to be in existence and for us to just keep telling our stories because there is a huge, huge shift happening and it’s really, really exciting,” Balmilero said.

To see photos from the event, visit the Grand Opening of the Academy for Creative Media Student Production Center album on Flickr.

For more to go to Ka Puna O Kaloʻi.

—By Zenaida Serrano Arvman

New architectural renderings provide a glimpse of the $53-million student success center on the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa campus that will further enrich the student life experience. The Swinerton/G70 design-build team has been awarded the contract to renovate Gregg M. Sinclair Library and transform it into a state-of-the-art center with modern, comfortable spaces for individual and group study along with on-site student support services and academic advising. Work on the four-story, 115,000-square-foot, 66-year-old building is tentatively scheduled to begin in summer 2023 and completed in fall 2024.

Located next to Hemenway Hall, Campus Center and the Warrior Recreation Center, the student success center is projected to be a vibrant hub of student activity and interaction that will encourage students to remain on campus between classes and after hours.

• Read more about the Sinclair student success center in UH News

The design-build project was funded by the state Legislature and is part of the UH Mānoa Campus Framework and Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) from 2020 that has been incorporated into the UH Mānoa Framework for the Future, a commitment—informed by regularly updated data—that campus projects represent UH Mānoa’s core values as identified in the Mānoa Strategic Plan (PDF).

Design-build is a national best practice adopted by the UH Office of Project Delivery where there is a single contract for the design and construction with a fixed lump sum cost. Design-build projects are more likely to be completed on time and with fewer cost overruns, compared to the typical design-bid-build process.

The university system’s first major design-build project, the UH Mānoa Life Sciences Building completed in 2020, was honored in May 2022 with a Kukulu Hale Award for nonprofit project.

A $41 million University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa transformation project to revamp Sinclair Library into a state-of-the-art student success center is closer to becoming reality. The project is expected to be completed by fall 2024, with construction set to begin by the end of 2022.

UH officials will shortlist three design-build project finalists by the end of November and award the contract to the best value team in March 2022. By winter 2022, current Sinclair Library occupants will be relocated around campus to allow construction to begin. The center is expected to be open for use by fall 2024. Funding for the student success center was approved in the 2019–20 fiscal year.

When completed, the center will enhance the student experience by creating a vibrant hub of modern, comfortable spaces that encourages students to remain on campus between classes and after hours for individual study, group study, academic advising and tutoring, other campus services and much more.

Sinclair Library, adjacent to Hemenway Hall, Campus Center and the Warrior Recreation Center, is a prime location for the modernized center, delivering the type of space needed to keep UH Mānoa competitive with other universities.

Related UH News stories:

• Sinclair Library transitioning into student success center, January 21, 2020
• Funding approved to transform Sinclair into student success center, April 30, 2019
• Sinclair Library to become center for student success, January 30, 2019

This work is an example of UH Mānoa’s goal of Enhancing Student Success (PDF), one of four goals identified in the 2015–25 Strategic Plan (PDF), updated in December 2020.

A new addition to the lobby of the Administration and Health Sciences (AHS) Building at the University of Hawaiʻi–West Oʻahu is as aesthetic as it is exceptional.

The glass plaque from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) indicates the AHS Building’s noteworthy Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement and leadership, and the most widely used green building rating system in the world. “The significance here is that the project exceeds the UH criteria for new buildings to strive to meet LEED Silver,” said Bonnie Arakawa, director of planning, facilities, capital improvement project and land at UH West Oʻahu. “The goal is to develop buildings in a way that will address sustainability from the design, maintenance and fiscal standpoints in both the short- and long-terms. Reaching gold was a byproduct of that effort.”

The AHS Building was gold-certified on June 16, and its new plaque was installed on September 2 in the lobby of the administration wing.

According to the USGBC website, projects pursuing LEED certification earn points for green building strategies across several categories. Based on the number of points achieved, a project earns one of four LEED rating levels: certified, silver, gold or platinum.

Among the AHS Building’s green features:

• The ecological design and construction work included bioretention systems and rainwater catchment for managing stormwater onsite and the construction of an onsite greywater treatment system treating the building sink water and condensate recovery for reuse as subsurface drip irrigation.
• All the water conservation gardens are interactive and can be utilized as educational features by both the campus students and staff.
• To reduce energy consumption, the building features an 89 kW DC photovoltaic system on the rooftop, high efficiency HVAC systems and 100% LED lighting.
• An astounding 97% of regularly occupied spaces are naturally daylit and 96% of those spaces have access to outdoor views of the beautiful Waiʻanae mountains and ʻEwa plains. Natural light is more pleasing, healthful and psychologically beneficial than artificial light. Daylight is also a highly cost-effective means of reducing the energy for electrical lighting.

Previous ratings of UH West Oʻahu buildings include LEED Gold for the James & Abigail Campbell Library and LEED Silver for the Campus Center, Laboratory and Classroom buildings.

Read more in Ka Puna O Kaloʻi.

—By Zenaida Serrano Arvman

Construction crews finished tearing down Snyder Hall on iconic McCarthy Mall on the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa campus on July 2. The project is on schedule and will be completed before the start of the fall 2021 semester.

Site preparation started in the spring, with the actual demolition of the 59-year-old, five-story, concrete building beginning on June 2. Crews will now remove the remaining debris and prepare the site for temporary landscaping.

The state Legislature has provided $70 million in funding for a replacement building that will include flexible learning and office spaces that support modern methods of online delivery, collaboration and advising. The project is in the planning phases with construction tentatively scheduled to start in 2022/2023.

• Related story: Eerie animal noises, world-class research part of Snyder Hall’s history

Snyder Hall’s former occupants are now located in the $65-million Life Sciences Building that opened in July 2020.

The Snyder Hall demolition marks the start of Phase 2 of the UH Mānoa Mini Master Plan that includes the construction of a replacement building. Phase 1 included the demolition of Henke Hall in 2017 and the construction of the Life Sciences Building in its place on the Diamond Head end of McCarthy Mall.

An extended reach excavator began tearing into Snyder Hall on the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa campus on June 4, 2021, marking the start of demolition of the 59-year-old, 5-story building. The demolition of the building on iconic McCarthy Mall is scheduled to be complete in mid-July.

The former occupants of Snyder Hall were relocated to the $65-million Life Sciences Building located at the Diamond Head end of McCarthy Mall after it was opened in July 2020.

State lawmakers budgeted $70 million in the 2021 legislative session for a replacement building at the Snyder Hall location that will include flexible learning and office spaces that support modern methods of online delivery, collaboration and advising.

• Related UH News story: Eerie animal noises, world-class research part of Snyder Hall’s history, May 25, 2021

Snyder Hall is the first of four buildings (including Holmes Hall, Keller Hall, Kuykendall Hall) identified in the UH Mānoa Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) to be replaced or renovated because of age and condition. Another LRDP project, the $41-million renovation project to transform the Sinclair Library into a state-of-the-art student success center, is underway. LRDP completed projects include the demolition of Henke Hall in 2017 and construction of the Life Sciences Building at the Henke location.

The plan also calls for converting campus interior roads into pedestrian malls and permanently removing more than 50, one-story, wooden, portable buildings across the campus to create additional outdoor space.

This commitment to facilities improvement is an example of UH Mānoa’s goals of Enhancing Student Success (PDF), one of four goals identified in the 2015–25 Strategic Plan (PDF), updated in December 2020.

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Snyder Hall, scheduled for demolition in June, will be remembered for its world-class research, and for many, being part of bygone era when laboratory animal science was a common practice at universities around the country. As researchers made groundbreaking discoveries, former students and employees from the 1970s and 1980s recall the eerie animal noises echoing through McCarthy Mall, where Snyder Hall is located.

The five-story concrete building was built in 1962 for $1.5 million. Snyder Hall was replaced in 2020 with the $65-million state-of-the-art Life Sciences Building located on the East-West Road end of McCarthy Mall.

Snyder Hall part of largest campus expansion

Snyder Hall was among 37 new buildings constructed during the biggest campus expansion ever at UH Mānoa during the mid 1950s to mid 1960s. Initially spearheaded by then UH President Paul Bachman, the buildup was supported by a new generation of Democratic lawmakers, who had just ended a half century of Republican legislative control. Many of the lawmakers who overrode a governor’s veto to fund the expansion with tax increases were UH graduates and World War II veterans.

Bachman died unexpectedly in 1957, and was replaced by Laurence H. Snyder, an internationally known geneticist. During Snyder’s tenure as president from 1958 to 1963, UH doubled the number of students, academic courses, and degree programs offered. He also oversaw the construction of the new buildings and the installation of the iconic pedestrian thoroughfare, McCarthy Mall, one of Snyder’s proudest accomplishments.

One of the new buildings, the Health Research Institute Building, was renamed Snyder Hall in 1967 in his honor.

World-class research

Snyder Hall was home to a number of internationally recognized academics performing cutting-edge research in biology and microbiology.

Here are just a few examples of the world-class research performed there over nearly six decades.

• Microbiology Professor Maqsudul Alam led a group that sequenced the genome of SunUp papaya, the first published tropical fruit genome sequenced. Alam also discovered haem-containing proteins in the Archaea and Bacteria, proteins which trigger responses to oxygen, for which he was awarded a UH Excellence in Research Award (2001). He also established the Advanced Studies in Genomics, Proteomics and Bioinformatics facility, now based in the new Life Sciences Building.
• Microbiology Professor Phil Loh is credited with the invention of the field of shrimp tissue cell culture, which has allowed the study of viruses that infect shrimps. Loh also founded the virology program in 1961 and was the first person at UH to receive the Regents’ Medal for Excellence in Research in 1965.
• Microbiology Professor Clair Edwin Folsome was world renowned for his studies on the origins of life, astrobiology and closed biosystems.
• Microbiology Professor Stuart Donachie’s lab discovered still the second only known species in a unique cyanobacteria order with the first having been discovered in 1974. The sample came from a cave in the Kīlauea Caldera, and provides an “edit” to the history of the evolution of photosynthesis. Donachie’s lab has cultivated and named many other new microbes from Hawaiʻi.
• Microbiology Professor Tung Hoang‘s lab studies bacterial infectious diseases and developed a pioneering method for studying functional genomics of single bacterial cells based around a system called “laser micro-dissection,” funded by the National Science Foundation in 2008 and grants from the National Institute of Health. The laser system is housed in the Biological Electron Microscope Facility, which has its own impressive history.

Thousands of researchers supported by Biological Electron Microscope Facility

The Biological Electron Microscope Facility (BEMF) was established at Snyder Hall in 1984 by UH Pacific Biosciences Research Center Emeritus Professor Richard D. Allen. Allen was world renowned for his work on the model organism Paramecium. Over the years, BEMF has been utilized by more than a thousand researchers from UH, local technology companies, state and federal agencies and other academic institutions. BEMF’s state-of-the-art equipment is used to examine biological samples from viruses, bacteria and other microbes, invertebrates, vertebrates, plants and materials science samples such as photovoltaic thin films and fuel cell membranes.

The facility’s mission to provide instrumentation, training and services to the broader scientific community continues today in its new home in the Life Sciences Building.

Frogs and monkeys and sea lions, oh my!

The Laboratory Animal Service (LAS) was located on the 5th floor of Snyder Hall, which included an outdoor patio area. The early 2000s witnessed a major reduction in live-animal research due to increasing activism and rising costs, with the last animals leaving the building in 2007.

A wide array of animals were housed there, including mice, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, cats, Xenopus frogs, owls and Rhesus monkeys. The Rhesus monkeys are apparently what made the most and loudest noises, which echoed through McCarthy Mall.

“The old-timers told me of some brazen escapes in the 1980’s,” said retired UH Mānoa LAS employee Norman Magno. “Individual Rhesus escaped the pens and climbed down the adjoining coconut trees, entered Webster Hall quietly, and attended psychology and nursing classes with students without them knowing that a monkey was in attendance. I have been told stories like this on several occasions.”

Magno also said the “old-timers claim that sometime in the 1970’s and before the establishment of the animal advisory committee (now referred to as the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee), sea lions were housed in inflatable swimming pools on the 5th floor Snyder Hall Patio. Passersby often reported hearing dogs barking in the morning hours, that were actually the sea lions.”

Snyder demolition part of larger campus plan

The demolition of Snyder Hall will be the latest completed project in the UH Mānoa’s Long Range Development Plan, following the demolition of Henke Hall in 2017, and construction of the now open Life Sciences Buildings in its place. The 2021 state Legislature approved funding for a new building on the Snyder Hall site that will have flexible learning and office spaces to support modern methods of online course delivery, collaboration and advising.

The plan identified Snyder Hall as the first of four buildings to be renovated, replaced or removed because of age and condition, and to reduce energy and maintenance costs. The other buildings are Holmes Hall, Keller Hall, and Kuykendall Hall.

Another project, the $41-million renovation of the Sinclair Library into a Student Success Center, is currently underway. The plan also calls for replacing campus interior roads with pedestrian malls, and removing more than 50 portable buildings on campus to create more open space.

This capital improvement effort is an example of UH Mānoa’s goal of Enhancing Student Success (PDF), one of four goals identified in the 2015–25 Strategic Plan (PDF), updated in December 2020.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law’s new Clinical Building has joined a dozen other structures throughout the UH System in achieving Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) status, one of the top levels of energy efficiency.

Although the building was dedicated two years ago, the U.S. Green Building Council in charge of LEED designations needed time to verify and finalize the building’s status.

Achieving Gold LEED status included:

• diversion of 86% of the on-site generated construction waste from the landfill
• sourcing 48% of the materials from the region
• access to public transportation and bicycle racks
• a reflective white roof coating
• double-pane tinted windows
• low-flow water use features
• high quality of indoor air and ventilation
• use of non-toxic and low Volatile Organic Compound paints and materials
• occupant-controlled lighting and motion sensors
• water-efficient landscaping and natural stormwater controls (bioswales)
• an overall energy cost savings of 31% from various features including 50 solar photovoltaic panels on the roof that generate about 17% of the building’s power needs

Other “green” features of the building include a specialized skylight two stories overhead that fills the lobby with natural light; native plants landscaping surrounding the building; and sound­proof interview rooms offering privacy to community members served by the UH law school’s increasingly robust clinical program.

• Other UH LEED status buildings:
  • Pālamanui earns LEED Platinum status for sustainable campus design, June 20, 2017
  • UH Information Technology Center awarded LEED Gold, February 19, 2016
  • Green building earns platinum award for C-MORE building, January 26, 2012

Contributing to a sustainable campus

When the building was dedicated in 2019, former Associate Dean Denise Antolini, who oversaw much of the decade-long funding, design and construction of the UH law school’s third building, spoke of the importance of striving for LEED status to contribute to a sustainable campus.

“Looking 30 years ahead—when this building is here but most of us will not be on this campus—I hope our succes­sors will say that this project has truly improved the university and our island community,” Antolini said.

“Despite our very large personal and professional investment in getting this building off the ground, it’s really not about us. It’s about building a sustainable future for our students who will serve others, with professionalism and aloha, here in Hawaiʻi and around the world,” added Antolini.

Dean Camille Nelson said she is gratified by UH’s dedication to supporting sustainable structures, and is proud of the LEED recognition attained by the Clinical Building. She added her thanks to former Dean Avi Soifer for his dedication to the project and leadership in the multi-million dollar fundraising effort led by Honolulu attorney Mark Davis. She praised the entire team at Richardson and UH that oversaw its completion for their forward-looking vision and commitment.

“The Richardson community, its friends and supporters, came together to envision, plan and construct the new building in a way that exemplifies great care for the sustainable future of Hawaiʻi,” said Nelson. “They deserve our gratitude for their hard work, steadfast determination and commitment to the law school, the university and the state.”

This effort is an example of UH Mānoa’s goal of Building a Sustainable and Resilient Campus Environment: Within the Global Sustainability and Climate Resilience Movement (PDF), one of four goals identified in the 2015–25 Strategic Plan (PDF), updated in December 2020.

For more information, see the UH law school website.

–By Beverly Creamer

Snyder Hall on the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa campus is scheduled to be demolished in May marking the start of Phase 2 of the UH Mānoa Mini Master Plan. The opening of the $65-million Life Sciences Building in July 2020 signaled the completion of Phase 1 of the plan, which also included the removal of Henke Hall in 2017, where the new state-of-the-art Life Sciences Building stands on the Diamond Head end of McCarthy Mall.

The former occupants of Snyder Hall have relocated to the Life Sciences Building, clearing the way for its removal. Construction barriers went up around Snyder in March, as crews prepare to raze and replace it with temporary landscaping. UH is currently requesting state funding for a new building on the site for flexible learning and office spaces that support modern methods of online delivery, collaboration and advising.

The Mānoa Mini Master Plan, approved by the UH Board of Regents in 2015, is part of the campusʻs Long Range Development Plan. The completion of the Life Sciences Building along with the start of both Phase 2 of the mini master plan and the $41-million renovation of the Sinclair Library into a student success center are significant milestones of the Long Range Development Plan.

Campus vision for the next decade

One of the goals of the Long Range Development Plan is to reduce energy and maintenance costs. Snyder Hall, built in 1962, was identified as the first of four buildings to be renovated, replaced or removed because of age and condition. The other buildings identified are Holmes Hall, Keller Hall and Kuykendall Hall.

The plan also calls for the removal of more than 50, one-story, wooden, portable buildings around campus to create additional outdoor space and make the campus more pedestrian friendly by converting interior roads—Campus Road, Varney Circle and Correa Road—into pedestrian malls.

Sinclair Student Success Center and Life Sciences Building

The new Life Sciences Building and a student success center are also key parts of the long range plan. The $41-million renovation of the Sinclair Library will create the Sinclair Student Success Center next to the Campus Center and the Warrior Recreation Center. Sinclair is intended to be a hub of student interaction with modern, comfortable spaces that encourages students to remain on campus in between classes and after hours for individual study, group study, academic advising and tutoring.

The Sinclair Student Success Center follows the completion of the Life Sciences Building, The three-story, 70,000-square-foot facility with 21 state-of-the-art teaching and research laboratories, that will serve more than 500 students daily and support world-class research. The building is the new home to the College of Natural Sciences’ School of Life Sciences along with the Pacific Biosciences Research Center.

The Life Sciences Building was the universityʻs first major design-build project, which is now standard practice at the university.

This capital improvement effort is an example of UH Mānoa’s goal of Enhancing Student Success (PDF), one of four goals identified in the 2015–25 Strategic Plan (PDF), updated in December 2020.

Plans are underway for a new research facility on the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo campus to jointly house the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) and the Pacific Islands Ecosystems Research Center (PIERC).

The 60,000-square-foot Integrated Research Center will bring together staff from both HVO and PIERC to monitor, investigate and assess hazards from active volcanoes and earthquakes in Hawaiʻi. The collaboration will provide the scientific understanding and technologies needed to support and implement sound management and conservation of biological resources in Hawaiʻi and other Pacific island locations.

“At UH Hilo, we are honored to host HVO on our campus and excited about the benefits that this partnership can have for our students, who will be able to interact with HVO and PIERC staff and envision careers in the earth sciences,” said UH Hilo Chancellor Bonnie Irwin.

• Related UH News stories:
  • UH Hilo leaders get close look at eruption work, December 29, 2020
  • New Kīlauea eruption spurs UH Hilo alumni to front lines, December 22, 2020
  • UH Hilo students critical to post eruption research, October 21, 2020

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) selected architectural firm AHL to design the research facility. A related 13,000-square-foot field station is being built in the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Designed and constructed on separate sites, the laboratory, administration and support facilities are being planned concurrently to support USGS’s mission to enrich the Hawaiʻi Island research community.

“We are honored to be chosen to design these significant projects that are exciting and have a mission that resonates with us,” said Nathan Saint Clare, AHL principal-in-charge. “We plan to provide state-of-the-art facilities that will enrich the Hawaiʻi Island community for years to come.”

Read more in UH Hilo Stories.

—By Susan Enright, a public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories

When Academy for Creative Media (ACM) students at the University of Hawaiʻi–West Oʻahu return to in-person classes, they will be limited only by their imaginations in the newly constructed 33,000-square foot, $37 million Creative Media Facility. The “future-looking” facility cements the campus as the destination for creative media education in the state by linking facilities and programs throughout the UH System and across the state as a catalyst for Hawaiʻi’s intellectual property workforce.

“This brand new ACM Facility is the culmination of years of efforts to bring the best possible creative media education to the state of Hawaiʻi and gives our students the skills they need to help diversify our economy. It really serves as the hub for the University of Hawaiʻi’s efforts,” Academy for Creative Media System Founder and Director Chris Lee said.

• Related UH News stories
  • Community celebrates final beam for UH West Oʻahu Creative Media facility [VIDEO], September 25, 2019
  • Construction on Academy for Creative Media building at UH West Oʻahu begins [VIDEO], January 11, 2019

High-demand degree

The opening of the new building aligns with one of UH West Oʻahu’s newest and fastest-growing degree programs—the bachelor of arts in creative media. UH West Oʻahu’s Creative Media program embraces digital media literacy and storytelling as experienced through video, animation, video games, design, social media, web and app development, virtual and augmented reality, and other new forms of media communication and design through concentrations in communication and new media technologies, design and media, game design and development and general creative media. Creative media was the fastest-growing degree program at UH West Oʻahu in fall 2020, with 258 majors.

Sharla Hanaoka, UH West Oʻahu’s Academy for Creative Media director, called the symbiosis between the new building and academic programming paramount to the delivery of course materials and subjects that will prepare students for the industry.

“It allows students to gain hands-on experiences that books cannot duplicate in an environment that promotes not only learning but exploration,” she said. “This leads to the growth of confidence through experimentation with complex equipment.”

Industry-standard equipment

“The one room I’m most excited about is the post-production room,” said creative media student Nadine Castillo. By practicing on industry-standard equipment, Castillo can envision pursuing a career in film production, and she has her eye on the Black Magic/Da Vinci color-correcting studio to improve her craft.

The facility features a Dolby Atmos 100-seat screening room and mixing stage, Esports arena, post-production suites, an emerging media lab, incubator space, and industry-standard sound stage. The building also features:

• 16’ wide x 9’ high LED Planar video wall with seating risers and a cafe in the Roy and Hilda Takeyama Lobby. The video wall can be used to display student work, welcome visitors, thank donors and for esports tournaments.
• Interactive teaching boards, remote learning/video conferencing equipment, in multiple flex classrooms and computer labs
• Incubator space for collaboration and student and alumni-run companies
• Mill shop with industrial equipment for set construction and design related projects and separate 3D maker space
• Hawaiʻi European Cinema Writers Room for collaboration

Generous support

“This state-of-the-art facility is the culmination of a long journey made possible by the generous support of many friends, including UH alumni like Roy and Hilda Takeyama and Jay Shidler, and consistent funding by the legislature and the governor,” Lee said. “In particular, many thanks to Senators Michelle Kidani, Donna Kim and Donovan Dela Cruz, as well as Representatives Sylvia Luke and Ty Cullen for their vision to include both planning and CIP funds to make the building a reality.”

The Academy for Creative Media System partners with area high schools and UH Community Colleges to deliver creative media curriculum by bridging high school to college to the workforce. The UH West Oʻahu Creative Media program has Early College (high school students earn college credits by taking college-level courses) partnerships with Waiʻanae, Kapolei, Waipahu and Campbell high schools. All UH Community Colleges have articulation agreements leading to a bachelor’s degree in creative media at UH West Oʻahu.

A new beginning for the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa with the completion of the Life Sciences building that will open for instruction in the fall 2020 semester. Located on the Diamond Head end of McCarthy Mall, the three-story, 70,000-square-foot facility with 21 state-of-the-art teaching and research laboratories, was built to serve more than 500 students daily and support world class research.

“This building was designed and constructed purposely to bring together many of our most-accomplished researchers with undergraduate and graduate students,” said UH Mānoa Provost Michael Bruno. “The interdisciplinary collaboration that will happen in the new facility offers an exciting opportunity for our students, our future researchers and leaders.”

The $65 million facility will be home to the College of Natural Sciences’ School of Life Sciences along with the Pacific Biosciences Research Center (PBRC), which operates one of two transmission electron microscopes in the state (the UH Mānoa Advanced Electron Microscopy Center operates the second). Along with the 21 modern laboratories (six teaching, 15 research labs), the building also features a 600 square foot student collaboration area, 52 graduate student workstations, five conference rooms and 28 faculty offices.

• Read more about the Life Sciences building in UH News.

“We are extremely excited that the Life Sciences building is ready,” said UH Mānoa College of Natural Sciences Dean Aloysius Helminck. “It’s a fantastic opportunity, a collaboration between several different units on campus to provide absolutely top-notch, world-class facilities for both research and instruction.”

“We cannot thank state lawmakers and the governor enough for supporting this project,” said UH President David Lassner. “Beyond the amazing educational and research opportunities that the facility offers our students and scientists, it also provided the university an opportunity to prove that it could efficiently build a facility that will advance 21st century teaching, learning and research.”

Vision turns to fruition

In 2016, university leadership committed to a new campus modernizing strategy–designing university space to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and communication that will also support modern teaching, learning, innovation and scholarship. Maximizing the efficiency of both capital and operational dollars was a critical component of the strategy.

The Life Sciences Building is the university’s first major design-build project, a single contract for the design and construction with a fixed cost. Design-build projects are more likely to be completed on time and with fewer cost overruns, compared to the typical design-bid-build process. The university partnered with Layton Construction Company, LLC, and its design consultant G70 for the Life Sciences project.

“The working relationship with Layton and G70 and the university was a true partnership,” said UH Vice President for Administration Jan Gouveia. “Everyone involved was committed to delivering a quality project.”

Gouveia added that for a project of this magnitude to go from concept to completion in just four years is a testament to the perseverance and commitment to the highest standards of everyone involved.

“Contributions from our design-build, construction management, campus operations, environmental health and safety, procurement, and fiscal offices, along with our dedicated faculty, made this modern instructional and research facility a reality,” said Gouveia. “Leadership from the College of Natural Sciences, PBRC and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, was instrumental in programming the synergistic activities within the LSB to advance cutting edge collaboration amongst multiple disciplines.”

The UH Office of Project Delivery is responsible for just about every major capital improvement project for the 10 campus UH System, including Life Sciences. The office has been completely transformed over the last five years–adopting industry best practices, implementing a new project management system and centralized online system for issuing solicitations and receiving proposals or bids and assembling a team of experienced construction professionals to manage the project.

The next major project on the UH Mānoa campus is a $41 million, design-build to renovate the Sinclair Library into a student success center, which state lawmakers funded in 2019.

Iconic McCarthy Mall upgrade

The Life Sciences Building is an upgrade for McCarthy Mall, one of the iconic locations on campus. The new building is located on East-West Road between Kennedy Theatre and Moore Hall and across the street from Lincoln Hall and the Center for Korean Studies Building.

“This building is now the anchor on the Diamond Head side of McCarthy Mall along with Kennedy Theatre, one of the primary entrance points and certainly one of the most loved areas of our campus,” said Bruno.

The buildingʻs open courtyard overlooks the mall and is conveniently located next to Hamilton Library and Paradise Palms Café. The Life Sciences houses six teaching laboratories, 15 research laboratories, 52 graduate student workstations, five conference rooms, twenty-eight faculty offices, a 600 square foot student collaboration area and an approximately 3,000 square foot shell space to allow for future office expansion.

The final phase of the project is the demolition of Snyder Hall, which is also along McCarthy Mall. That phase is expected to be completed in the summer of 2021.

Related UH News stories:

• Student-centered, pedestrian-friendly vision for UH Mānoa campus, February 4, 2020
• Beam signing marks halfway point of Life Sciences building project, March 4, 2019
• Watch Henke Hall come down, August 4, 2017
• Aloha, Henke Hall, June 27, 2017
• Henke Hall demolition clears way for state-of-the-art science building, June 20, 2017
• Keeping UH’s building improvements on track, January 25, 2017
• Milestone in innovative Life Sciences building project, January 9, 2017
• Life Sciences building project marks new beginning for UH Mānoa, August 22, 2016

What can we do to improve the appearance and function of historic Varney Circle and fountain on the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa campus? The university is asking the campus community—students, faculty, staff, alumni and visitors—to help answer that question by filling out a 10-minute online survey and offering their ideas.

Exploring new ideas for the future of Varney Circle is part of the UH Mānoa Campus Framework and Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) for the next 10 years that includes converting interior roads into pedestrian malls and the replacement or renovation of four of the main buildings on campus.

Varney Circle, which is listed on Hawaiʻi’s Register of Historic Places, is where Campus Center, Hawaiʻi Hall, Queen Liliʻuokalani Center for Student Services and McCarthy Mall intersect. It was designed in 1934 by faculty and students and named in honor of a distinguished faculty member, Ada Susan Varney.

The survey was developed by the UH Community Design Center in cooperation with UH Office of Planning and Facilities. The results will inform and guide participants in a unique, two-day “Design Tank,” which will explore alternative scenarios for the future development of Varney Circle, one of UH Mānoa’s most important focal points. Design Tank participants will include faculty members, architects, landscape architects, urbanists and students in the environmental design disciplines.

The design ideas will be presented to a review panel of UH Mānoa’s academic and administrative leaders, including representatives of the faculty senate, the Associated Students of UH Mānoa and the Graduate Student Organization. Stay tuned to UH News for more on the project and the other LRDP updates.

For more information, contact uhcdc@hawaii.edu or go to the website.