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Higher Education Projects:
Osborne Center for Science & Engineering
, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, Colorado: 2010 Bronze Hard Hat Award for Architectural Design, Mountain States Construction; 2009 Sustainable Design Award, CoBIZ Magazine; 2009 First Place Institutional Building Award, Colorado Renewable Energy Society; Recipient of two energy awards, the Osborne Center for Science & Engineering exemplifies a flexible, collaborative, and interdisciplinary environment dedicated to sustainable design and its advancement. Its purpose is twofold: serve the University’s research/academic needs and function as a community resource to stimulate interest in science, engineering, and technology among schoolchildren and other visitors. The building brings together the departments of biology, physics, and mechanical and aerospace engineering, and also the Institute for Science and Space Studies and the CU Institute for Bioenergetics into a single facility. Throughout the building, strict sustainability guidelines informed and shaped the design. The project incorporated features to reduce energy consumption and annual operating costs, such as highly insulated wall/roof systems, a thin film 16.2kw photovoltaic system on the roof, high performance glass, and sunscreens to manage sunlight and heat gain. And while the floor plate profile maximizes interior daylighting, each elevation was also studied for interior function, campus context, and solar orientation. The result is a building 31% more energy efficient than ASHRAE 90.1 base building.
sn-w'ey'-mn Building
, Spokane Falls Community College, Spokane, Washington: LEED Gold Certification; Replacing three 1967 buildings on the Spokane Falls Community College campus, this new 70,000-square-foot, three-story structure features two wings - each housing a separate department - connected by a three-story atrium lobby space. Destined to become a landmark building, this business and social science building is designed as a contemporary interpretation of the existing campus architecture that celebrates progressive teaching and modern technology while fitting into the context of the campus. To promote the inclusion of features that minimize environmental impact and maximize energy efficiency, the facility is LEED Gold certified by the USGBC. With the input of project stakeholders, sustainable concepts - including daylighting, energy efficiency, site conservation and natural ventilation - have been carefully explored and thoughtfully integrated into the design; sn-w'ey'-mn is a Native American word in the Salish language that means a trading place for knowledge, materials, trades and commercial goods. The major artwork of the building is focused on the theme of commerce, tying together the two departments that will be housed in the building: Social Sciences and Business. Commerce was a mainstay of the regional tribes who traded extensively among themselves and with the coastal tribes. This naming recognizes the importance of commerce as it existed for thousands of years among regional tribes.
Medical Education Building
, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado: A new facility for changing teaching methodologies, Education 1 - the Medical Education Building - was the first facility on the new Education Zone of this relocated health sciences research and education campus. Students from the Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, Pharmacy and Graduate programs are integrated in an environment that expresses the University`s interdisciplinary teaching/learning goals. Large lecture halls open onto large communal areas to encourage interaction. Flexible group areas are scattered in the five-story building for opportunities to engage in spontaneous discussions and group-learning or for more private functions. The east side of the building faces the park-like Educational Commons. That facade is glazed to draw light into the building and offer a more transparent, noteworthy, and accessible presence to users relaxing or strolling along this internal park.
Northside Residence Hall
, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington; The newly designed five-story Northside Residence Hall at Washington State University is student housing that enhances WSU’s Residence Life program and is intended to increase student retention. The NAC|Architecture design concept meets the budget goals of a modern major university yet also possesses quality benchmarks that recognize the need for a long service life and enhanced energy performance. Each floor is home to 75 residents, but is then sub-divided into a West community of 37 and an East community of 38. Variety of room size, type and layout are available on each of the upper floors of the building, and the layout is repeated to created economies with the building services. Shared amenities include a large-volume rec room, living room, outdoor courtyard and rooftop terrace.
Academic Instructional Center
, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington: 2009 Civic Design Honor Award, American Institute of Architects (AIA) Washington Council; Designed to accommodate the consolidation and growth of the Communications Sciences and Disorders (CSD) and Psychology Departments, and also provide sorely needed general classrooms, the new Academic Instructional Center (AIC) is a 126,000-square-foot building with 725 classroom seats. The AIC will create appropriate spaces and convenient locations for public clinics run by the CSD and Psychology Departments and visited by on- and off-campus users. The AIC's location just south of the Communications Facility defines the southeast edge of the new South Quad and becomes a gateway building for the WWU campus. Designed in two sections, the building creates a central covered passageway that will allow students to walk between portions of the building as they enter the campus. The three-story western portion is low in scale to relate to the new diagonal walkway created for the campus, while the mass of the eastern building's five stories is diminished by its position and location. The two sections of the building are connected by a bridge that will also provide informal study areas for students. A collaborative center in the eastern portion features multiple computer ports and allows for Wi-Fi access as students lounge and study. Led by NAC|Architecture, the Academic Instructional Center team includes design architect opsis architecture.
Arbol de la Vida Hall
, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona: Arbol de la Vida is the future home of the Honors College at University of Arizona. The unit types and planning modules for this project are very regular, with paired communities of between 14 and 17 total students. Each community has its own social center, a gathering area that doubles as a learning space, and a more formal study area for small groups. Each community also has a flexible and convertible bathroom arrangement so that the gender in the communities is adaptable to the program enrollment and curriculum in any given year. Each community has a very different shaped hallway, which is furnished and specially lighted – the hallway and gathering areas are one and the same and special care was taken to allow people walking by the site to see inside these collaborative areas in the evenings. Arbol de la Vida is scheduled to receive LEED certification at the Platinum level. This level was targeted without resort to special systems or site renewable energy. The efficiency comes largely from its site and climate-appropriate design, local materials, innovative approach to ground water management, daylighting, and daytime thermal mass. In architectural character, Arbol is modeled after the "cool canyons" of the desert southwest. Slot canyons admit a high level of light during daytime hours, but use their thermal mass and depth to provide habitat and passive shading during the day, and heat-shed, passive cooling, and thermal conduction during the night.
Academic Center, Washington State University
, Spokane, Washington: The 106,000-square-foot Academic Center, which is the centerpiece of the campus, houses student services, other student activities, the library, administrative offices, conference facilities, program incubator spaces, tiered lecture facilities, distance learning classrooms, computer labs and numerous academic departments. Beyond providing replacement space for programs previously occupying leased or temporary space, the Academic Center provides area for new programs, expansion of programs offered at the Riverpoint Campus, and space for programs relocated from WSU in Pullman. Convenience, collaboration, cooperation, and resource-sharing opportunities are fostered by the appropriate consolidation of functions within the Academic Center. As part of the predesign service, the entire campus master plan was also updated. The Academic Center is one of the first buildings designed to address the governor's focus on sustainability by state facilities. Led by NAC|Architecture, the Academic Center team included associated architect THA Architecture.
East Hall
, Whitworth University, Spokane, Washington: Employing a somewhat more traditional living arrangement utilizing individual bedrooms with building-wide shared common spaces, East Hall is laid out with two main residential wings that intersect at a "hinge point." With a capacity of approximately 170 students in just over 45,000 square feet, the new residence hall features a mixture of single, double and triple bedrooms; large game room and laundry facilities; an individual music practice room; two large student lounges, each with its own kitchen and fireplace; three additional smaller lounges, including a separate movie viewing lounge; and five separate outdoor decks – four of which are accessible only from inside the building. The residence hall also houses a full two-bedroom apartment for the resident director.The building's design is intended to convey a residential feel utilizing steeply pitched roof forms and wood windows. The building was built into a gently sloping site, which allowed the use of a daylight basement along the north side. Exterior materials were chosen for their long-term durability as well as their compatibility with the campus context. Locally manufactured brick, ground-face CMU and integrally colored concrete combine to offer many years of low-maintenance life while expressing the building's and the university's commitment to sustainable building practices. Exposed wood beams were used sparingly to highlight certain focal points of the building and to contribute to its fit into the heavily wooded campus.
Science and Mathematics Building
, Spokane Community College, Spokane, Washington: Spokane Community College's new Science and Mathematics Building acts as a new campus entrance, introducing a contemporary building aesthetic designed in concert with the campus master plan being developed by SCC under NAC|Architecture's leadership. The 65,268-square-foot building - created via NAC|Architecture's collaborative design process - was conceived as three distinct elements: an office tower; a classroom/lab block; and a three-story, light-filled atrium lobby. Constructed at a cost of $10.8 million, the building houses SCC's Science and Mathematics departments. As a result of the project coming in nearly $1 million under budget, the college was able to re-build a soccer field adjacent to the building, replacing the field displaced by the new structure. The building is organized vertically by departments with nine math classrooms, math offices, and a computer lab on the first floor; the life sciences and associated faculty offices on the second floor; and the physical sciences with their requisite classrooms on the third floor. The science space will feature 13 laboratories, including a 1,600-square-foot biotechnology lab. Sustainable design principles were applied to the project, balancing first-cost budget realities, life-cycle cost analysis, and environmentally conscious design. Daylighting, energy efficiency, site conservation and natural ventilation were among the sustainable concepts integrated in the design.
Likins Hall
, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona: Likins Hall is an urban infill building on a challenging site. Designed as a Freshman Experience-style dormitory, the building forms half of a very important gateway to the campus. Consisting of 11 student communities of 28-32 students, with a Residence Advisor and a single Hall Director, these residences are the model of live-learn communities for U of A, with two gathering/collaboration spaces and two formal study spaces in each grouping. The first floor program is highly active and responds to the urban condition of the site, with residence hall administrative offices, large and small classroom spaces usable by residents as well as by other groups at U of A, secured bike parking and a series of resident-only support spaces that all face a shared courtyard. The architecture of Likins Hall represents a departure from the "walled city" paradigm of earlier residences. It allows views and glimpses into the common life of residents at every turn around the site, while providing a secure perimeter and an active street edge. It is a progressive live-learn community which outperforms all other campus buildings in energy-efficient design. Likins Hall is scheduled to receive LEED certification at the Platinum level. It achieves its rating without special systems or onsite renewables. Its efficiency comes from a radical approach to storm water capture and processing, the use of local materials, daylighting and climate management strategies.
Edward R. Murrow School of Communication
, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington: Envisioned as a new landmark building for the nationally recognized School of Communication, the 26,000-square-foot expansion of the school establishes a strong connection to the historic campus context through generous use of rich, traditional brick patterning and deeply inset windows. At the same time, the building expresses its technological orientation through careful articulation of contemporary glass and aluminum panels on the west facade, creating a visual transparency that accents the warmth of the maple-paneled interior student gathering spaces. The facility offers spacious, inviting lobbies; a host of offices and support spaces; computer labs; television editing and broadcast facilities; conference rooms; and a suite of research lab spaces. Sophisticated equipment in the interview labs, focus lab, and psycho-physiological lab supports research on human psychological and physiological responses to various communication media. To efficiently accommodate future technological upgrades, an extensive horizontal cable distribution system was incorporated into the construction, allowing flexible permutations of the floor plan arrangement. Led by NAC|Architecture, the School of Communication Addition team included associated architect opsis architecture.
Kenneth King Performing Arts Center
, Auraria Higher Education Center, Denver, Colorado: 2002 Merit Award, United States Institute for Theater Technology; The King Center brings together three separate educational institutions to teach, learn, and appreciate the performing arts. The building accommodates 39 classrooms, 150 faculty offices, seven performance venues, and support spaces. Each institution “owns” one dedicated production studio and shares all other spaces within the building. The design program supports, illustrates, and builds upon multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary collaboration in several ways. An informal indoor street serving various performance venues replaces the typical formal lobby. The building design puts “backstage” functions into full view of the campus, illuminating and dramatizing the creative process behind each performance. The scene shop and paint shop are visible from the exterior. The costume shop and design studio are visible from the “main street” lobby. The 185,000 square foot building includes a 550 seat Concert Hall, 350 seat Courtyard Theatre, 200 seat Recital Hall, and 75 seat Electronic Music Studio. It is shared by the University of Colorado at Denver, Metropolitan State College of Denver, and Community College of Denver.
Duvall Hall
, Whitworth University, Spokane, Washington: The four-story Duvall Hall has 160 beds arranged in varying-sized suites ranging from three to five bedrooms each. Suites on each floor are clustered around a common lounge, which serves as the living room and gathering spot for that floor. The first floor also houses a common laundry room and a game room. Completed in August 2006, this is the newest dormitory on the Whitworth University campus. Exterior design features include brick cladding and piers, bay windows, steeply pitched gable roofs, and an entry bridge from the uphill side of the building. The total building area is 45,000 square feet, plus a 2,500-square-foot basement.
Student Recreation Center
, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho; 2002 Award of Merit, American Institute of Architects (AIA)/Spokane; 2002 Citation Award, AIA/Idaho; NAC|Architecture envisioned the University of Idaho's Student Recreation Center as a recreational village whose rugged, angular exterior mirrors the region's landscape. The 84,000-square-foot facility houses a central two-story atrium/lounge; cafe; two multi-court basketball/volleyball gymnasiums; a multipurpose activity court (MAC); a suspended indoor jogging track; multipurpose/aerobics rooms; and a climbing area with a 55-foot free-form pinnacle, and bouldering and top-rope climbing walls. Other amenities include cardiovascular fitness and weight-training areas, health and fitness testing labs, locker rooms, program offices, administrative offices and storage. In addition to accommodating indoor activities, the center is also home to a nationally recognized outdoor recreation program. All key activity areas are visible from the main entryway, allowing staff to conveniently observe these spaces. The building's innovative design and pivotal location – in the heart of an area slated to become the campus's residential center – underscore the university's focus on healthy living, and enhance student and faculty recruitment and retention. Interior design elements – such as an exposed branch-like wood roof structure, a gallery of clerestory windows, and a concrete floor stamped and colored to emulate a forest floor – extend the area's natural environment indoors and validate the university's commitment to sustainability.
Posada San Pedro and Pueblo de la Cienega Residence Halls
, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona: Posada San Pedro and Pueblo de la Cienega are phase two of the Highland District Housing project. These housing buildings were developed around the concept of a "walled city", a medieval planning diagram known for its courtyards, human scale and high density. Each of the two courtyards make use of intense color and composition, which helps to convey a sense of surprise from the simple street diagram proposed for the neighborhood. Special attention was paid during the development of the building diagram to the emerging sense of community contributed by each building element. The building is designed to encourage residents to spend time in communal spaces, increasing the informal learning that occurs through chance encounters. Benches, niches and overlooks encourage informal discussion. A major challenge to the design was making outdoor spaces for gathering which could be used in all seasons of the extreme desert climate.
Advanced Technology & Education Park
, South Orange County Community College District, Tustin, California; The Advanced Technology and Education Park was conceived as an educational oasis. Its street-side elevations speak to the future while the courtyard, with its arcades, fountain, muted walls and sensitive landscape, brings a nearness and sense of balance to the campus. The courtyard was designed so that students can have a variety of spaces in which to relax. Many container plantings with adjacent benches encourage individual students to rest or read and small groups of students to gather. A vibrant yellow arcade shades the outdoor patio next to the café, which will draw together larger groups of students.
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Building
, University of Arizona , Tucson, Arizona: 1997 Honor Award, American Institute of Architects/Colorado; The Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Building is designed to respect the traditions of the original buildings at the University of Arizona. This is achieved through scale and placement of buildings on the site, their organization around a traditional Tucson courtyard, and the use of campus materials and landscape. It is also very contemporary in its use of open-ended planning, modern systems and materials, and in its formal composition. The aerodynamic forms of the building are shaped to channel ambient breezes through the central courtyard and to identify the place with the work of its occupants. The materiality and craft of engineering is expressed in the technical fittings and fastenings throughout the building. The design celebrates the bolts, turnbuckles, cable clamps, locknuts, hinges, and swivel rings which hold the building together. Lightweight cable supported bridges employing aircraft technology span the courtyard. The courtyard design follows the ecological model inspired by the character of the natural landscape. An outdoor cafe with tables, umbrellas, and shade trees is enhanced by upper level offices with French doors and balconies.
Animal Disease Biotechnology Facility
, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington: 2001 Robert Fraser Excellence in Masonry Design Award, Masonry Industry Promotion Group; 2000 Award of Merit, AIA/Spokane; 1994 First Place, Rendered Image, AUTODESK; This research facility was constructed to investigate disease mechanisms at the cellular and molecular levels by the College of Veterinary Medicine and USDA scientists. The 86,000-square-foot facility is closely integrated with the existing Bustad Hall research facility and veterinary teaching hospital completed in 1996. The facility includes over 50 labs and supporting spaces, including a vivarium with 20 animal rooms, a technology transfer unit, environmentally controlled rooms, chemical and radiation waste handling spaces, and over 80 offices and supporting administrative spaces.
Campus Village Apartments
, Denver, Colorado: Campus Village Apartments address the unique privacy and social needs of various student age groups. Freshman “suites” with double bedrooms and small kitchen/living spaces encourage interaction with larger groups and are located closest to campus. Upper division students are accommodated in full service and studio apartments.Campus Village Apartments, Phase I, is the first student housing built adjacent to the 35,000-student Auraria Campus in Downtown Denver. The project is a joint venture between a private developer and the C.U. Real Estate Foundation. The configuration of the buildings creates serene, protected courtyards for residents to gather or study. A cafe and convenience store are located at the entrance for use by students and the neighborhood. Multiple common areas which foster community are distributed throughout and include informal lounges, meeting rooms, a workout room, laundry and gathering spaces.
Villa del Puente and "El Portal"
, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona: Highland District Housing started with a University initiative to re-think the present campus housing and give special emphasis to Student Success, specifically the retention of first year students. Villa del Puente and "El Portal" are phase one of Highland District Housing. They frame a significant Gateway on the University of Arizona campus. After consideration of many potential forms to address this popular but difficult intersection of the campus, the design team settled upon the "diagonal" street intersecting a Neighborhood Square. Student rooms in a variety of configurations are arranged in four wings around a private courtyard. Informal gathering and study is accommodated in great rooms, group study rooms, individual study rooms and laundry/activity rooms. The building is designed to encourage residents to spend time in communal spaces, increasing the informal learning that occurs through chance encounters.
LASP Space Technology Research Center Addition
, University of Colorado Research Park, Boulder, Colorado: This building is an addition to a building designed by NAC in 1990. It provides additional laboratory, office, and clean room facilities for the design, fabrication, and testing of space instruments by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. The previous LASP building was the first building designed for the University of Colorado Research Park. It was a contemporary interpretation of Boulder main campus architecture. For this building, the University requested a more literal interpretation with direct references to the historic campus, but at the same time referencing and being compatible with the existing LASP building. By incorporating details and materials of the existing building, with a direct reference to the main campus in building massing, both goals were achieved. The project was designed for LEED certification. Responsibilities included programming, master planning, and full service design and management.
InCyte Pathology Laboratory
, Spokane, Washington: This 26,000-square-foot pathology laboratory building is located on a new, undeveloped site in the Spokane Valley. InCyte Pathology performs pathology testing/evaluation for most of the area’s hospitals and special testing on specimens for other area laboratories. The new building includes a reception/waiting area, two conference rooms able to be combined via an operable wall, billing/business offices, pathologist offices, cytology (fluids) laboratory, histology (tissue) laboratory, grossing room, and storage and support areas.
Cheney Cowles Library
, Whitworth University, Spokane, Washington: The second addition and complete remodeling of this centerpiece building includes 25,000 square feet of new space added to the existing 27,800 square feet for a total of 52,800 square feet. This building houses a traditional academic library, research facilities, archives, archival reading room, education curriculum library, audio-visual department, academic computing with two micro-labs, word processing, and administrative computing for the campus.
HollisterStier Laboratory
, Spokane, Washington: This office/lab building addition consists of approximately 14,400 square feet on the first floor and 10,600 square feet on the second floor, for a total area of approximately 25,000 square feet. The first floor houses a 5,900-square-foot chemistry lab in the southern portion of the building. The remainder of the building provides a combination of offices, open office space, conference rooms, and support spaces. An open entry lobby and reception area serve as the new “front door” for the facility. A fast-track construction process was used to expedite building completion.
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