The school is located in Bauer Wurster Hall on the southeast corner of the main UC Berkeley campus.

In 1894, Bernard Maybeck was appointed instructor in drawing at the Civil Engineering College of the University of California.

Bauer Wurster Hall, the building which currently houses the college opened in 1964 and was designed by Joseph Esherick, Vernon DeMars, and Donald Olsen, members of the CED faculty.

CED was also an early proponent of design for disability and green architecture, and is home to the Center for the Built Environment.

In March 2015, the college unveiled a 9-foot-tall (2.7 m) 3D-printed sculpture, entitled "Bloom", which was composed of an iron oxide-free Portland cement powder.