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
University Buildings | Nov 13, 2022
University of Washington opens mass timber business school building
Founders Hall at the University of Washington Foster School of Business, the first mass timber building at Seattle campus of Univ. of Washington, was recently completed. The 84,800-sf building creates a new hub for community, entrepreneurship, and innovation, according the project’s design architect LMN Architects.
University Buildings | Nov 2, 2022
New Univ. of Calif. Riverside business school building will support hybrid learning
A design-build partnership of Moore Ruble Yudell and McCarthy Building Companies will collaborate on a new business school building at the University of California at Riverside.
School Construction | Oct 31, 2022
Claremont McKenna College science center will foster integrated disciplinary research
The design of the Robert Day Sciences Center at Claremont McKenna College will support “a powerful, multi-disciplinary, computational approach to the grand socio-scientific challenges and opportunities of our time—gene, brain, and climate,” says Hiram E. Chodosh, college president.
University Buildings | Oct 27, 2022
The Collaboratory Building will expand the University of Florida’s School of Design, Construction, and Planning
Design firm Brooks + Scarpa recently broke ground on a new addition to the University of Florida’s School of Design, Construction, and Planning (DCP).
BAS and Security | Oct 19, 2022
The biggest cybersecurity threats in commercial real estate, and how to mitigate them
Coleman Wolf, Senior Security Systems Consultant with global engineering firm ESD, outlines the top-three cybersecurity threats to commercial and institutional building owners and property managers, and offers advice on how to deter and defend against hackers.
University Buildings | Oct 7, 2022
Auburn’s new culinary center provides real-world education
The six-story building integrates academic and revenue-generating elements.
K-12 Schools | Sep 21, 2022
Architecture that invites everyone to dance
If “diversity” is being invited to the party in education facilities, “inclusivity” is being asked to dance, writes Emily Pierson-Brown, People Culture Manager with Perkins Eastman.
University Buildings | Sep 9, 2022
Alan Schlossberg, AIA, LEED AP, joins DesignGroup’s Pittsburgh studio as Regional Practice Leader
Alan Schlossberg, AIA, LEED AP, has joined DesignGroup as a principal of the firm and regional practice leader.
| Sep 2, 2022
New UMass Medical School building enables expanded medical class sizes, research labs
A new nine-story, 350,000 sf biomedical research and education facility under construction at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School in Worcester, Mass., will accommodate larger class sizes and extensive lab space.
University Buildings | Aug 25, 2022
Higher education, striving for ‘normal’ again, puts student needs at the center of project planning
Sustainability and design flexibility are what higher education clients are seeking consistently, according to the dozen AEC Giants contacted for this article. “University campuses across North America are commissioning new construction projects designed to make existing buildings and energy systems more sustainable, and are building new flexible learning space that bridge the gap between remote and in-person learning,” say Patrick McCafferty, Arup’s Education Business Leader–Americas East region, and Matt Humphries, Education Business Leader in Canada region.
