A recently completed expansion and renovation of Wellesley College’s science complex yielded a modernized structure for 21st century STEM education while preserving important historical features. The project represents “one of the largest and most ambitious building
projects in the college’s modern history,” according to Wellesley College and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the project’s architects.
The building’s signature space, the Focus, a multi-story atrium, was created by enclosing the space between an L-shaped wing and the neighboring Sage Hall. The neo-Gothic brick facade of Sage Hall forms one wall within the modernist atrium, creating an interplay between old and new. Renovation of the L-wing preserved the architectural integrity of the space, including the original brick wall, while demolishing the rest of Sage Hall to make way for the addition. With expansive laboratory spaces and exposed concrete and mechanical systems, the L-wing boldly contrasts with the more traditional architectural styles of the Wellesley campus.
The project encompasses Science Hill—the setting for multiple science facilities. It linked the existing Whitin Observatory, the Global Flora Conservatory, the arboretum, and the botanic gardens. The new complex is immersed in a reimagined landscape, which introduces new gardens that will be used for scientific and ecological pedagogy. As part of the curriculum, the landscape will be installed by students and faculty next spring.
The new structure, distinguished by a ship-lapped, zinc-paneled facade, was conceived as a series of pavilions with strong connections to the outdoors. The interior layout organizes similar fields of study together, situating classrooms, faculty offices, and laboratories according to discipline.
A central spine, the Chao Foundation Innovation Hub, connects the mix of old and new buildings and makes them intuitive to navigate. Built with mass timber, this multistory cascade of spaces offers double- and triple-height interiors with views of the landscape. Breakout areas fill the space, with windows that reveal the laboratory spaces in the surrounding buildings, putting science on display and enhancing the sense of a village atop Science Hill.
The project significantly improved the Science Complex’s sustainability performance and plays a key role in the college’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2040. Before this project, the science buildings consumed more energy than any other areas on campus. Now, the complex is among the most environmentally efficient. Design measures such as stormwater capture, new piping and mechanical systems, more natural lighting, the use of mass timber and recycled zinc, and the preservation of as much of the original structures as possible, helped the project achieve LEED Platinum certification.
On the Building Team:
Owner and/or developer: Wellesley College
Design architect: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Architect of record: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
MEP engineer: BR+A Consulting Engineers
Structural engineer: Le Messurier
General contractor/construction manager: Turner Construction Company
Related Stories
| Nov 23, 2010
Honeywell's School Energy and Environment Survey: 68% of districts delayed or eliminated improvements because of economy
Results of Honeywell's second annual “School Energy and Environment Survey” reveal that almost 90% of school leaders see a direct link between the quality and performance of school facilities, and student achievement. However, districts face several obstacles when it comes to keeping their buildings up to date and well maintained. For example, 68% of school districts have either delayed or eliminated building improvements in response to the economic downturn.
| Nov 9, 2010
Just how green is that college campus?
The College Sustainability Report Card 2011 evaluated colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada with the 300 largest endowments—plus 22 others that asked to be included in the GreenReportCard.org study—on nine categories, including climate change, energy use, green building, and investment priorities. More than half (56%) earned a B or better, but 6% got a D. Can you guess which is the greenest of these: UC San Diego, Dickinson College, University of Calgary, and Dartmouth? Hint: The Red Devil has turned green.
| Nov 3, 2010
First of three green labs opens at Iowa State University
Designed by ZGF Architects, in association with OPN Architects, the Biorenewable Research Laboratory on the Ames campus of Iowa State University is the first of three projects completed as part of the school’s Biorenewables Complex. The 71,800-sf LEED Gold project is one of three wings that will make up the 210,000-sf complex.
| Nov 3, 2010
Park’s green education center a lesson in sustainability
The new Cantigny Outdoor Education Center, located within the 500-acre Cantigny Park in Wheaton, Ill., earned LEED Silver. Designed by DLA Architects, the 3,100-sf multipurpose center will serve patrons of the park’s golf courses, museums, and display garden, one of the largest such gardens in the Midwest.
| Nov 3, 2010
Seattle University’s expanded library trying for LEED Gold
Pfeiffer Partners Architects, in collaboration with Mithun Architects, programmed, planned, and designed the $55 million renovation and expansion of Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons at Seattle University. The LEED-Gold-designed facility’s green features include daylighting, sustainable and recycled materials, and a rain garden.
| Nov 3, 2010
Recreation center targets student health, earns LEED Platinum
Not only is the student recreation center at the University of Arizona, Tucson, the hub of student life but its new 54,000-sf addition is also super-green, having recently attained LEED Platinum certification.
| Nov 3, 2010
Designs complete for new elementary school
SchenkelShultz has completed design of the new 101,270-sf elementary Highlands Elementary School, as well as designs for three existing buildings that will be renovated, in Kissimmee, Fla. The school will provide 48 classrooms for 920 students, a cafeteria, a media center, and a music/art suite with outdoor patio. Three facilities scheduled for renovations total 19,459 sf and include an eight-classroom building that will be used as an exceptional student education center, a older media center that will be used as a multipurpose building, and another building that will be reworked as a parent center, with two meeting rooms for community use. W.G. Mills/Ranger is serving as CM for the $15.1 million project.
| Nov 3, 2010
Virginia biofuel research center moving along
The Sustainable Energy Technology Center has broken ground in October on the Danville, Va., campus of the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research. The 25,000-sf facility will be used to develop enhanced bio-based fuels, and will house research laboratories, support labs, graduate student research space, and faculty offices. Rainwater harvesting, a vegetated roof, low-VOC and recycled materials, photovoltaic panels, high-efficiency plumbing fixtures and water-saving systems, and LED light fixtures will be deployed. Dewberry served as lead architect, with Lord Aeck & Sargent serving as laboratory designer and sustainability consultant. Perigon Engineering consulted on high-bay process labs. New Atlantic Contracting is building the facility.
| Nov 3, 2010
Dining center cooks up LEED Platinum rating
Students at Bowling Green State University in Ohio will be eating in a new LEED Platinum multiuse dining center next fall. The 30,000-sf McDonald Dining Center will have a 700-seat main dining room, a quick-service restaurant, retail space, and multiple areas for students to gather inside and out, including a fire pit and several patios—one of them on the rooftop.
| Nov 2, 2010
Cypress Siding Helps Nature Center Look its Part
The Trinity River Audubon Center, which sits within a 6,000-acre forest just outside Dallas, utilizes sustainable materials that help the $12.5 million nature center fit its wooded setting and put it on a path to earning LEED Gold.