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
| May 18, 2011
Major Trends in University Residence Halls
They’re not ‘dorms’ anymore. Today’s collegiate housing facilities are lively, state-of-the-art, and green—and a growing sector for Building Teams to explore.
| May 18, 2011
Former Bronx railyard redeveloped as shared education campus
Four schools find strength in numbers at the new 2,310-student Mott Haven Campus in New York City. The schools—three high schools and a K-4 elementary school—coexist on the 6.5-acre South Bronx campus, which was once a railyard.
| May 18, 2011
Eco-friendly San Antonio school combines history and sustainability
The 113,000-sf Rolling Meadows Elementary School in San Antonio is the Judson Independent School District’s first sustainable facility, with green features such as vented roofs for rainwater collection and regionally sourced materials.
| May 18, 2011
New Reform Jewish Independent school opens outside Boston
The Rashi School, one of only 17 Reform Jewish independent schools in North American and Israel, opened a new $30 million facility on a 166-acre campus shared with the Hebrew SeniorLife community on the Charles River in Dedham, Mass.
| May 18, 2011
Addition provides new school for pre-K and special-needs kids outside Chicago
Perkins+Will, Chicago, designed the Early Learning Center, a $9 million, 37,000-sf addition to Barrington Middle School in Barrington, Ill., to create an easily accessible and safe learning environment for pre-kindergarten and special-needs students.
| May 18, 2011
Raphael Viñoly’s serpentine-shaped building snakes up San Francisco hillside
The hillside location for the Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine building at the University of California, San Francisco, presented a challenge to the Building Team of Raphael Viñoly, SmithGroup, DPR Construction, and Forell/Elsesser Engineers. The 660-foot-long serpentine-shaped building sits on a structural framework 40 to 70 feet off the ground to accommodate the hillside’s steep 60-degree slope.
| May 18, 2011
One of Delaware’s largest high schools seeks LEED for Schools designation
The $82 million, 280,000-sf Dover (Del.) High School will have capacity for 1,800 students and feature a 900-seat theater, a 2,500-seat gymnasium, and a 5,000-seat football stadium.
| May 17, 2011
Sustainability tops the syllabus at net-zero energy school in Texas
Texas-based firm Corgan designed the 152,200-sf Lady Bird Johnson Middle School in Irving, Texas, with the goal of creating the largest net-zero educational facility in the nation, and the first in the state. The facility is expected to use 50% less energy than a standard school.
| May 16, 2011
USGBC and AIA unveil report for greening K-12 schools
The U.S. Green Building Council and the American Institute of Architects unveiled "Local Leaders in Sustainability: A Special Report from Sundance," which outlines a five-point national action plan that mayors and local leaders can use as a framework to develop and implement green schools initiatives.
