As part of an ambitious expansion and renovation campaign, for which it has raised in excess of $125 million, Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Mich., recently debuted its $16.9 million, 36,700-sf A. Alfred Taubman Engineering, Architecture, and Life Sciences Complex, which is home to the Marburger STEM Center, and provides a collaborative learning environment for emerging technologies such as robotics, biomedical engineering, and mechatronics.
The building, which opened in August, combines the Science and Engineering Buildings. Thom Mayne of Morphosis Architects, the project’s Design Director, designed the Complex as an “extruable section” of the campus, meaning that it is expandable as needed. Subsequent phases of this project could include an addition to the one-story wing of the Engineering Building, more classrooms and lab space, and expanded resources for programs such as Architectural Engineering and Industrial Design.
Two floors of labs overlook an open flex space that’s the heart of the Complex, with a reconfigurable hall for meetings and lectures. Clerestory glazing fills this space with light defused with an ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) scrim along its east and west facades.
The building establishes a new axis for the campus, as it is linked to neighboring buildings by lifted bridges. It also creates a new focal point for the University’s quad thanks to a 44-foot-high carbon-fiber circulation “orb,” floating above a reflecting pool, which contains a main staircase and marks the entry of the building.
A 44-foot-high orb, the entry to the Taubman Complex, includes an interior stairwell with translucent floors that let in natural light. Image: ©Nic Lehoux
The orb is capped at both ends by circular skylights that let sunlight in through translucent floors of the stairwell. To accommodate the design of the curved structure, Albert Kahn Associates, the project’s AOR and EOR, oversaw the rigorous testing and manufacturing processes to achieve a first-of-its-kind carbon fiber composite formulation and application. (Kahn includes several LTU alumni, including Alan Cobb, FAIA, the firm’s president and CEO, who was Executive Architect on this project.)
The carbon fiber is layered with wedge shapes, like a football, which allows the orb to maintain its structural integrity.
Professional Engineering Association served as the civil engineering consultant on the project. The Mannick & Smith Group provided geotechnical advice. The building is shooting for LEED Silver certification.
The new building includes a large, flexible open space with a reconfigurable hall for meetings and conferences. Image: ©Nic Lehoux
Related Stories
Lighting | Mar 4, 2024
Illuminating your path to energy efficiency
Design Collaborative's Kelsey Rowe, PE, CLD, shares some tools, resources, and next steps to guide you through the process of lighting design.
Student Housing | Feb 21, 2024
Student housing preleasing continues to grow at record pace
Student housing preleasing continues to be robust even as rent growth has decelerated, according to the latest Yardi Matrix National Student Housing Report.
University Buildings | Feb 21, 2024
University design to help meet the demand for health professionals
Virginia Commonwealth University is a Page client, and the Dean of the College of Health Professions took time to talk about a pressing healthcare industry need that schools—and architects—can help address.
Higher Education | Feb 9, 2024
Disability and architecture: ADA and universal design at college campuses
To help people with disabilities feel part of the campus community, higher education institutions and architects must strive to create settings that not only adhere to but also exceed ADA guidelines.
University Buildings | Jan 18, 2024
Houston’s Rice University opens the largest research facility on its core campus
Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the 251,400-sf building provides students and researchers with state-of-the-art laboratories, classrooms, offices, and a cafe, in addition to multiple gathering spaces.
Sponsored | BD+C University Course | Jan 17, 2024
Waterproofing deep foundations for new construction
This continuing education course, by Walter P Moore's Amos Chan, P.E., BECxP, CxA+BE, covers design considerations for below-grade waterproofing for new construction, the types of below-grade systems available, and specific concerns associated with waterproofing deep foundations.
University Buildings | Jan 15, 2024
The death of single-use university buildings
As institutions aim to improve the lives of their students and the spaces they inhabit, flexible university buildings may provide an all-in-one solution.
Designers | Jan 3, 2024
Designing better built environments for a neurodiverse world
For most of human history, design has mostly considered “typical users” who are fully able-bodied without clinical or emotional disabilities. The problem with this approach is that it offers a limited perspective on how space can positively or negatively influence someone based on their physical, mental, and sensory abilities.
University Buildings | Dec 8, 2023
Yale University breaks ground on nation's largest Living Building student housing complex
A groundbreaking on Oct. 11 kicked off a project aiming to construct the largest Living Building Challenge-certified residence on a university campus. The Living Village, a 45,000 sf home for Yale University Divinity School graduate students, “will make an ecological statement about the need to build in harmony with the natural world while training students to become ‘apostles of the environment’,” according to Bruner/Cott, which is leading the design team that includes Höweler + Yoon Architecture and Andropogon Associates.
Student Housing | Dec 5, 2023
October had fastest start ever for student housing preleasing
The student housing market for the upcoming 2024-2025 leasing season has started sooner and faster than ever.