diff --git a/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/BigQueryTimezoneUtility.java b/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/BigQueryTimezoneUtility.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..551667a1b450
--- /dev/null
+++ b/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/BigQueryTimezoneUtility.java
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2026 Google LLC
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package com.google.cloud.bigquery.jdbc;
+
+import java.sql.Date;
+import java.sql.Time;
+import java.sql.Timestamp;
+import java.time.Instant;
+import java.time.LocalDate;
+import java.time.LocalDateTime;
+import java.time.LocalTime;
+import java.time.ZoneId;
+
+/**
+ * A highly optimized utility for bridging BigQuery's civil time and absolute time semantics to
+ * legacy JDBC Date/Time/Timestamp classes using JSR-310 timezone anchoring.
+ */
+final class BigQueryTimezoneUtility {
+
+  private BigQueryTimezoneUtility() {}
+
+  /**
+   * Converts a BigQuery civil DATETIME string into an absolute Timestamp by anchoring it to the
+   * provided timezone (or JVM default if null).
+   */
+  public static Timestamp boxDateTime(String val, ZoneId zoneId) {
+    ZoneId targetZone = zoneId != null ? zoneId : ZoneId.systemDefault();
+    String isoString = val.replace(' ', 'T');
+    return Timestamp.from(LocalDateTime.parse(isoString).atZone(targetZone).toInstant());
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Converts a BigQuery civil DATE string into an absolute Date by anchoring it to midnight of the
+   * provided timezone (or JVM default if null).
+   */
+  public static Date boxDate(String val, ZoneId zoneId) {
+    ZoneId targetZone = zoneId != null ? zoneId : ZoneId.systemDefault();
+    return new Date(LocalDate.parse(val).atStartOfDay(targetZone).toInstant().toEpochMilli());
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Converts a BigQuery civil TIME string into an absolute Time by anchoring it to Jan 1, 1970 of
+   * the provided timezone (or JVM default if null).
+   */
+  public static Time boxTime(String val, ZoneId zoneId) {
+    ZoneId targetZone = zoneId != null ? zoneId : ZoneId.systemDefault();
+    return new Time(
+        LocalTime.parse(val)
+            .atDate(LocalDate.of(1970, 1, 1))
+            .atZone(targetZone)
+            .toInstant()
+            .toEpochMilli());
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Converts a BigQuery absolute TIMESTAMP string into a legacy Timestamp. Because it is absolute,
+   * the Calendar timezone is explicitly ignored per JDBC 4.2 spec.
+   */
+  public static Timestamp boxTimestamp(String val) {
+    if (val.contains("T") || val.contains("Z")) {
+      return Timestamp.from(Instant.parse(val));
+    }
+    return Timestamp.valueOf(val);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/BigQueryTypeRegistry.java b/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/BigQueryTypeRegistry.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..01de760a9f35
--- /dev/null
+++ b/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/BigQueryTypeRegistry.java
@@ -0,0 +1,317 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2026 Google LLC
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package com.google.cloud.bigquery.jdbc;
+
+import com.google.cloud.bigquery.StandardSQLTypeName;
+import com.google.cloud.bigquery.exception.BigQueryJdbcException;
+import java.math.BigDecimal;
+import java.sql.Array;
+import java.sql.Date;
+import java.sql.Struct;
+import java.sql.Time;
+import java.sql.Timestamp;
+import java.sql.Types;
+import java.time.Instant;
+import java.time.LocalDate;
+import java.time.LocalDateTime;
+import java.time.LocalTime;
+import java.time.OffsetDateTime;
+import java.time.ZonedDateTime;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
+
+/**
+ * A central, bidirectional engine for resolving and coercing types between JDBC, Java, and
+ * BigQuery.
+ */
+final class BigQueryTypeRegistry {
+
+  private static final TypeDescriptor<?>[] DESCRIPTORS_BY_ORDINAL;
+  private static final Map<Class<?>, TypeDescriptor<?>> DESCRIPTORS_BY_CLASS;
+  private static final Map<Integer, TypeDescriptor<?>> DESCRIPTORS_BY_JDBC_TYPE;
+
+  static {
+    int maxOrdinal = 0;
+    for (StandardSQLTypeName type : StandardSQLTypeName.values()) {
+      if (type.ordinal() > maxOrdinal) {
+        maxOrdinal = type.ordinal();
+      }
+    }
+    DESCRIPTORS_BY_ORDINAL = new TypeDescriptor<?>[maxOrdinal + 1];
+    DESCRIPTORS_BY_CLASS = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
+    DESCRIPTORS_BY_JDBC_TYPE = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
+
+    // BOOL
+    register(
+        new TypeDescriptor<>(
+            Types.BOOLEAN,
+            Boolean.class,
+            StandardSQLTypeName.BOOL,
+            Arrays.asList(Boolean.class),
+            (val, targetClass, zone) -> {
+              if (val instanceof Boolean) return val;
+              if (val instanceof String) return Boolean.parseBoolean((String) val);
+              throw new BigQueryJdbcException("Cannot convert to BOOL: " + val);
+            }));
+
+    // STRING
+    register(
+        new TypeDescriptor<>(
+            Types.NVARCHAR,
+            String.class,
+            StandardSQLTypeName.STRING,
+            Arrays.asList(String.class),
+            (val, targetClass, zone) -> String.valueOf(val)));
+
+    // INT64
+    register(
+        new TypeDescriptor<>(
+            Types.BIGINT,
+            Long.class,
+            StandardSQLTypeName.INT64,
+            Arrays.asList(Long.class, Integer.class, Short.class, Byte.class),
+            (val, targetClass, zone) -> {
+              long longVal;
+              if (val instanceof Number) longVal = ((Number) val).longValue();
+              else if (val instanceof String) longVal = Long.parseLong((String) val);
+              else throw new BigQueryJdbcException("Cannot convert to INT64: " + val);
+
+              if (targetClass == Integer.class) return (int) longVal;
+              if (targetClass == Short.class) return (short) longVal;
+              if (targetClass == Byte.class) return (byte) longVal;
+              return longVal;
+            }));
+
+    // FLOAT64
+    register(
+        new TypeDescriptor<>(
+            Types.DOUBLE,
+            Double.class,
+            StandardSQLTypeName.FLOAT64,
+            Arrays.asList(Double.class, Float.class),
+            (val, targetClass, zone) -> {
+              double doubleVal;
+              if (val instanceof Number) doubleVal = ((Number) val).doubleValue();
+              else if (val instanceof String) doubleVal = Double.parseDouble((String) val);
+              else throw new BigQueryJdbcException("Cannot convert to FLOAT64: " + val);
+
+              if (targetClass == Float.class) return (float) doubleVal;
+              return doubleVal;
+            }));
+
+    // NUMERIC
+    register(
+        new TypeDescriptor<>(
+            Types.NUMERIC,
+            BigDecimal.class,
+            StandardSQLTypeName.NUMERIC,
+            Arrays.asList(BigDecimal.class),
+            (val, targetClass, zone) -> {
+              if (val instanceof BigDecimal) return val;
+              if (val instanceof Number) return new BigDecimal(val.toString());
+              if (val instanceof String) return new BigDecimal((String) val);
+              throw new BigQueryJdbcException("Cannot convert to NUMERIC: " + val);
+            }));
+
+    // --- TEMPORAL TYPES MOVED TO PHASE 2 PR ---
+    // DATE, DATETIME, TIMESTAMP, and TIME descriptors require BigQueryTemporalUtility
+    // which will be introduced in the stacked Phase 2 PR.
+    
+    // BYTES
+    register(
+        new TypeDescriptor<>(
+            Types.VARBINARY,
+            byte[].class,
+            StandardSQLTypeName.BYTES,
+            Arrays.asList(byte[].class),
+            (val, targetClass, zone) -> {
+              if (val instanceof byte[]) return val;
+              throw new BigQueryJdbcException("Cannot convert to BYTES: " + val);
+            }));
+
+    // ARRAY
+    register(
+        new TypeDescriptor<>(
+            Types.ARRAY,
+            Array.class,
+            StandardSQLTypeName.ARRAY,
+            Arrays.asList(Array.class),
+            (val, targetClass, zone) -> {
+              if (val instanceof Array) return val;
+              throw new BigQueryJdbcException("Cannot convert to ARRAY: " + val);
+            }));
+
+    // STRUCT
+    register(
+        new TypeDescriptor<>(
+            Types.STRUCT,
+            Struct.class,
+            StandardSQLTypeName.STRUCT,
+            Arrays.asList(Struct.class),
+            (val, targetClass, zone) -> {
+              if (val instanceof Struct) return val;
+              throw new BigQueryJdbcException("Cannot convert to STRUCT: " + val);
+            }));
+
+    // JSON
+    register(
+        new TypeDescriptor<>(
+            Types.OTHER,
+            String.class,
+            StandardSQLTypeName.JSON,
+            Arrays.asList(com.google.gson.JsonObject.class),
+            (val, targetClass, zone) -> String.valueOf(val)));
+
+    // BIGNUMERIC
+    register(
+        new TypeDescriptor<>(
+            Types.NUMERIC,
+            BigDecimal.class,
+            StandardSQLTypeName.BIGNUMERIC,
+            Arrays.asList(BigDecimal.class),
+            (val, targetClass, zone) -> {
+              if (val instanceof BigDecimal) return val;
+              if (val instanceof Number) return new BigDecimal(val.toString());
+              if (val instanceof String) return new BigDecimal((String) val);
+              throw new BigQueryJdbcException("Cannot convert to BIGNUMERIC: " + val);
+            }));
+
+    // GEOGRAPHY
+    register(
+        new TypeDescriptor<>(
+            Types.OTHER,
+            String.class,
+            StandardSQLTypeName.GEOGRAPHY,
+            Arrays.asList(String.class),
+            (val, targetClass, zone) -> String.valueOf(val)));
+
+    // INTERVAL
+    register(
+        new TypeDescriptor<>(
+            Types.OTHER,
+            String.class,
+            StandardSQLTypeName.INTERVAL,
+            Arrays.asList(String.class),
+            (val, targetClass, zone) -> String.valueOf(val)));
+
+    // RANGE
+    register(
+        new TypeDescriptor<>(
+            Types.OTHER,
+            String.class,
+            StandardSQLTypeName.RANGE,
+            Arrays.asList(String.class),
+            (val, targetClass, zone) -> String.valueOf(val)));
+  }
+
+  private static void register(TypeDescriptor<?> descriptor) {
+    if (DESCRIPTORS_BY_ORDINAL[descriptor.getBqType().ordinal()] == null) {
+      DESCRIPTORS_BY_ORDINAL[descriptor.getBqType().ordinal()] = descriptor;
+    }
+    DESCRIPTORS_BY_JDBC_TYPE.putIfAbsent(descriptor.getJdbcType(), descriptor);
+    for (Class<?> clazz : descriptor.getSupportedJavaTypes()) {
+      DESCRIPTORS_BY_CLASS.putIfAbsent(clazz, descriptor);
+    }
+  }
+
+  private BigQueryTypeRegistry() {}
+
+  /**
+   * Returns the exact BigQuery StandardSQLTypeName for a given Java class. If no mapping is found,
+   * returns StandardSQLTypeName.STRING as a fallback.
+   */
+  public static StandardSQLTypeName toBigQueryType(Class<?> clazz) {
+    TypeDescriptor<?> descriptor = getDescriptorForClass(clazz);
+    if (descriptor != null) {
+      return descriptor.getBqType();
+    }
+    return StandardSQLTypeName.STRING;
+  }
+
+  /** Returns the default Java target class for a given JDBC type constant. */
+  public static Class<?> toJavaClass(int jdbcType) {
+    TypeDescriptor<?> descriptor = DESCRIPTORS_BY_JDBC_TYPE.get(jdbcType);
+    if (descriptor != null) {
+      return descriptor.getDefaultJavaClass();
+    }
+    return String.class; // fallback
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Converts the input value to the target class type by looking up the target class descriptor.
+   */
+  @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+  public static <T> T convert(Object input, Class<T> targetClass) throws BigQueryJdbcException {
+    if (input == null) {
+      return null;
+    }
+    TypeDescriptor<?> descriptor = getDescriptorForClass(targetClass);
+    if (descriptor == null) {
+      throw new BigQueryJdbcException("Unsupported target class: " + targetClass.getName());
+    }
+    return (T) descriptor.convert(input, targetClass, null);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * High-performance hotpath convert for ResultSets. Converts the input value using the default
+   * mapping for the given BigQuery type via O(1) array indexing.
+   */
+  public static Object convert(Object input, StandardSQLTypeName bqType, ZoneId zoneId)
+      throws BigQueryJdbcException {
+    if (input == null) return null;
+    int ordinal = bqType.ordinal();
+    if (ordinal >= DESCRIPTORS_BY_ORDINAL.length || DESCRIPTORS_BY_ORDINAL[ordinal] == null) {
+      throw new BigQueryJdbcException("No type descriptor registered for BigQuery type: " + bqType);
+    }
+    TypeDescriptor<?> descriptor = DESCRIPTORS_BY_ORDINAL[ordinal];
+    return descriptor.convert(input, descriptor.getDefaultJavaClass(), zoneId);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * High-performance hotpath convert for ResultSets. Converts the input value to the target class
+   * using the descriptor for the given BigQuery type via O(1) array indexing.
+   */
+  @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+  public static <T> T convert(
+      Object input, StandardSQLTypeName bqType, Class<T> targetClass, ZoneId zoneId)
+      throws BigQueryJdbcException {
+    if (input == null) return null;
+    int ordinal = bqType.ordinal();
+    if (ordinal >= DESCRIPTORS_BY_ORDINAL.length || DESCRIPTORS_BY_ORDINAL[ordinal] == null) {
+      throw new BigQueryJdbcException("No type descriptor registered for BigQuery type: " + bqType);
+    }
+    return (T) DESCRIPTORS_BY_ORDINAL[ordinal].convert(input, targetClass, zoneId);
+  }
+
+  private static TypeDescriptor<?> getDescriptorForClass(Class<?> clazz) {
+    TypeDescriptor<?> descriptor = DESCRIPTORS_BY_CLASS.get(clazz);
+    if (descriptor != null) {
+      return descriptor;
+    }
+    // Fallback logic for subclasses/interfaces (O(N) initial lookup)
+    for (Map.Entry<Class<?>, TypeDescriptor<?>> entry : DESCRIPTORS_BY_CLASS.entrySet()) {
+      if (entry.getKey().isAssignableFrom(clazz)) {
+        TypeDescriptor<?> matchedDescriptor = entry.getValue();
+        // Cache the result in the ConcurrentHashMap to turn subsequent subclass lookups into O(1)
+        DESCRIPTORS_BY_CLASS.putIfAbsent(clazz, matchedDescriptor);
+        return matchedDescriptor;
+      }
+    }
+    return null;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/TypeDescriptor.java b/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/TypeDescriptor.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..56d161b11b6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/TypeDescriptor.java
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2026 Google LLC
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package com.google.cloud.bigquery.jdbc;
+
+import com.google.cloud.bigquery.StandardSQLTypeName;
+import com.google.cloud.bigquery.exception.BigQueryJdbcException;
+import java.time.ZoneId;
+import java.util.List;
+
+/**
+ * Defines the bidirectional mapping between a JDBC SQL type, a default Java class, and a BigQuery
+ * StandardSQLTypeName. It also contains the coercion logic to convert raw values into the expected
+ * Java type.
+ */
+final class TypeDescriptor<T> {
+
+  @FunctionalInterface
+  interface TypeCoercer {
+    Object coerce(Object value, Class<?> targetClass, ZoneId zoneId) throws BigQueryJdbcException;
+  }
+
+  private final int jdbcType;
+  private final Class<T> defaultJavaClass;
+  private final StandardSQLTypeName bqType;
+  private final List<Class<?>> supportedJavaTypes;
+  private final TypeCoercer coercer;
+
+  TypeDescriptor(
+      int jdbcType,
+      Class<T> defaultJavaClass,
+      StandardSQLTypeName bqType,
+      List<Class<?>> supportedJavaTypes,
+      TypeCoercer coercer) {
+    this.jdbcType = jdbcType;
+    this.defaultJavaClass = defaultJavaClass;
+    this.bqType = bqType;
+    this.supportedJavaTypes = supportedJavaTypes;
+    this.coercer = coercer;
+  }
+
+  public int getJdbcType() {
+    return jdbcType;
+  }
+
+  public Class<T> getDefaultJavaClass() {
+    return defaultJavaClass;
+  }
+
+  public StandardSQLTypeName getBqType() {
+    return bqType;
+  }
+
+  public List<Class<?>> getSupportedJavaTypes() {
+    return supportedJavaTypes;
+  }
+
+  public Object convert(Object value, Class<?> targetClass, ZoneId zoneId)
+      throws BigQueryJdbcException {
+    if (value == null) {
+      return null;
+    }
+    return coercer.coerce(value, targetClass, zoneId);
+  }
+}