American School and University magazine honored McCarthy Building Companies | HED with an Outstanding Design in the Postsecondary Schools category for its design-build of the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Student Union at Fresno State. The honor is featured in the 2023 Architectural Portfolio, published in the November issue of the magazine.

For more than 40 years, American School and University’s Architectural Portfolio competition has sought to identify and honor the educational facilities that have been the most successful in creating state-of-the-art learning spaces. 

The $60 million, 84,000-square-foot building opened in 2022. It is located on 3.5 acres immediately south of the memorial fountain. The project was designed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold equivalency and has proven to be one of the most cost-effective and successful projects delivered in the CSU system, said Tinnah Medina, associate vice president for facilities management at Fresno State. 

“Architecturally, the building provides exciting and capturing interior spaces, conducive to student gatherings at multiple levels and group sizes,” Medina said. “The exterior configuration and building siting affords several programmable exterior patios and plazas. The exterior materiality provides a contextual architectural vocabulary in keeping with the surrounding buildings and physical environment. The Resnick Student Union has been a great addition to the excellence of Fresno State in both form and function.”