Shawmut Design and Construction has recently completed the $120 million renovation of Smith College’s Neilson Library in Northampton, Ma. The project took the original, outdated building and reimagined it as the energy-efficient, intellectual heart of the campus.
In partnership with architectural designer Maya Lin and principal architect Shepley Bulfinch, the 200,000-sf project restored the building and created an energy-efficient design and flexible collaborative workspaces.
The building’s main entrance opens into a large atrium that features a four-story oculus. The building’s use of glass, wood, and stone works with the design to promote harmony with the surrounding exterior landscape, designed by Edwina von Gal with Ryan Associates.
The original 1909 facade is incorporated into the reimagined building, which is composed of three distinct sections: the central core and two new wings. The new wings are dubbed jewel boxes for their curved, light-filled design made from a mix of masonry, wood, and glass.
The north wing, named for Smith’s ninth president, Ruth J. Simmons, comprises spaces to support active learning and innovation. The south wing, named in honor of Smith’s eighth president, Mary Maples Dunn, brings together special collections (the Sophia Smith Collection, Rare Books, and College Archives) into one climate-controlled area.
SEE ALSO: MiraCosta Community College to receive new Chemistry and Biotechnology Building
Flexible, collaborative workspaces include the Learning Commons, the Jill Ker Conway Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center, and the Special Collections Seminar Room. A series of classroom spaces, a reading room, study areas, a sunken courtyard, and event spaces, and an outdoor amphitheater with shaded seating are also included.
A Digital Media Hub offers studios for students to record podcasts, videos, and use other digital media; self-service labs for students to use technologies such as spatial analysis, gaming software, survey software, and GIS; a User Experience Lab for research and usability testing; and access to large-format and 3D printers.
Additionally, the Neilson Library is now connected to the recently renovated Alumnae Gym via an interior walkway. The Alumnae Gym provides additional learning spaces that are open 24/7.
Sustainability features include a high-performance building envelope, advanced daylighting strategies, and materials that promote health and wellness. Throughout, the library incorporates materials that promote health and wellness by not containing harmful chemicals, as well as local, regional, and recycled products. The building has the ability to become an ‘all-electric’ complex and is pursuing LEED V.4, Gold Accreditation.
Related Stories
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2023
2023 Giants 400 Report: Ranking the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms
A record 552 AEC firms submitted data for BD+C's 2023 Giants 400 Report. The final report includes 137 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2023
Top 175 Architecture Firms for 2023
Gensler, HKS, Perkins&Will, Corgan, and Perkins Eastman top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture firms for nonresidential building and multifamily housing work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Higher Education | Aug 22, 2023
How boldly uniting divergent disciplines boosts students’ career viability
CannonDesign's Charles Smith and Patricia Bou argue that spaces designed for interdisciplinary learning will help fuel a strong, resilient generation of students in an ever-changing economy.
Adaptive Reuse | Aug 17, 2023
How to design for adaptive reuse: Don’t reinvent the wheel
Gresham Smith demonstrates the opportunities of adaptive reuse, specifically reusing empty big-box retail and malls, many of which sit unused or underutilized across the country.
Higher Education | Aug 7, 2023
Building a better academic workplace
Gensler's David Craig and Melany Park show how agile, efficient workplaces bring university faculty and staff closer together while supporting individual needs.
University Buildings | Aug 7, 2023
Eight-story Vancouver Community College building dedicated to clean energy, electric vehicle education
The Centre for Clean Energy and Automotive Innovation, to be designed by Stantec, will house classrooms, labs, a library and learning center, an Indigenous gathering space, administrative offices, and multiple collaborative learning spaces.
Market Data | Aug 1, 2023
Nonresidential construction spending increases slightly in June
National nonresidential construction spending increased 0.1% in June, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Spending is up 18% over the past 12 months. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $1.07 trillion in June.
Market Data | Jul 24, 2023
Leading economists call for 2% increase in building construction spending in 2024
Following a 19.7% surge in spending for commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings in 2023, leading construction industry economists expect spending growth to come back to earth in 2024, according to the July 2023 AIA Consensus Construction Forecast Panel.
Mass Timber | Jul 11, 2023
5 solutions to acoustic issues in mass timber buildings
For all its advantages, mass timber also has a less-heralded quality: its acoustic challenges. Exposed wood ceilings and floors have led to issues with excessive noise. Mass timber experts offer practical solutions to the top five acoustic issues in mass timber buildings.
Adaptive Reuse | Jul 6, 2023
The responsibility of adapting historic university buildings
Shepley Bulfinch's David Whitehill, AIA, believes the adaptive reuse of historic university buildings is not a matter of sentimentality but of practicality, progress, and preservation.