The vacant Dana Hall library building on Dartmouth College’s north campus was a 32,995-sf, 1960s building that became the anchor of the school’s north campus renewal plan. The building is being reimagined as a faculty and graduate student center.
Designed by Leers Weinzapfel Associates, the new building aspires for net zero energy use and will include new entrances for its surrounding buildings, a wide pedestrian bridge, and new circulation between buildings. The hope is the reimagined building will better connect the north campus to the green and main campus.
Rendering courtesy Leers Weinzapfel Associates.
See Also: Charles L. Tutt Library, Colorado College: Net-zero in the Rockies
An unused laboratory adjacent to Dana Hall will be demolished and an addition will be built in its place that houses the new building’s lobby and a cafe with a terrace overlooking a nearby green space. The renovated building’s upper floors will contain collegial faculty offices, classrooms, and places for student gathering. A penthouse level includes a solar paneled canopy and a south-facing planted terrace. In the basement there is a walk-out graduate student lounge that opens to a protected courtyard below a pedestrian bridge.
Rendering courtesy Leers Weinzapfel Associates.
Among the renovated buildings sustainability features are high R value terracotta-clad walls, solar panel canopy triple glazed windows, and south-facing glass with an expanded metal interlayer to limit summer sun. Before construction began, Dana Hall was stripped down to its concrete columns and slabs to remove existing hazardous materials.
The building is currently under construction and is slated to open for the 2020 Winter Term.
Related Stories
Contractors | Jul 29, 2015
Consensus Construction Forecast: Double-digit growth expected for commercial sector in 2015, 2016
Despite the adverse weather conditions that curtailed design and construction activity in the first quarter of the year, the overall construction market has performed extremely well to date, according to AIA's latest Consensus Construction Forecast.
University Buildings | Jul 28, 2015
OMA designs terraced sports center for UK's Brighton College
Designs for what will be the biggest construction project in the school’s 170-year history feature a rectangular building at the edge of the school’s playing field. A running track is planned for the building’s roof, while sports facilities will be kept underneath.
University Buildings | Jul 21, 2015
Maker spaces: Designing places to test, break, and rebuild
Gensler's Kenneth Fisher and Keller Roughton highlight recent maker space projects at MIT and the University of Nebraska that provide just the right mix of equipment, tools, spaces, and disciplines to spark innovation.
University Buildings | Jul 2, 2015
Design for new pavilion in Toronto includes a ‘peel-away’ façade
An architect's proposal for a renovation of the main office building at the Ontario College of Art and Design features a façade that fans out from the edges of the building, like it’s opening up to visitors.
University Buildings | Jun 29, 2015
Ensuring today’s medical education facilities fit tomorrow’s healthcare
Through thought-leading design, medical schools have the unique opportunity to meet the needs of today’s medical students and more fully prepare them for their future healthcare careers. Perkins+Will’s Heidi Costello offers five key design factors to improve and influence medical education.
University Buildings | May 30, 2015
Texas senate approves $3 billion in bonds for university construction
For the first time in nearly a decade, Texas universities could soon have some state money for construction.
University Buildings | May 19, 2015
Special Report: How your firm can help struggling colleges and universities meet their building project goals
Building Teams that want to succeed in the higher education market have to help their clients find new funding sources, control costs, and provide the maximum value for every dollar.
University Buildings | May 19, 2015
Renovate or build new: How to resolve the eternal question
With capital budgets strained, renovation may be an increasingly attractive money-saving option for many college and universities.
University Buildings | May 19, 2015
KU Jayhawks take a gander at a P3 development
The P3 concept is getting a tryout at the University of Kansas, where state funding for construction has fallen from 20% of project costs to about 11% over the last 10 years.
University Buildings | May 5, 2015
Where the university students are (or will be)
SmithGroupJJR's Alexa Bush discusses changing demographics and the search for out-of-state students at public universities.
