Outstanding Façade Renovation winner
2023 Vitruvian Design Competition
Architect: Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners
Architectural Resources Group
Façade Engineers: Coffman Engineers, Inc.
Façade Contractor: Willis Construction
Main Contractor: Rudolph & Sletten, Inc.
Constructed in the Brutalist style by second-generation San Diego architect Richard George Wheeler, the eight-story Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) Building is part of UC San Diego’s Muir College, located on the west side of the university’s La Jolla campus. Muir College was constructed between 1967-1971 and contains one of the best and most intact concentrations of Brutalist architecture in Southern California.
The HSS Building was constructed in 1970 and contains offices, classrooms, lounges, storage and utility spaces. Although it is not formally listed in a historic register, the building was identified as individually eligible for state and federal designation as an excellent example of Brutalist architecture and as an important work of noted San Diego architect Richard George Wheeler through a campuswide historic resources survey conducted in 2016. It was also identified in the survey as a contributor to the Muir College Historic District.