Part of a design/build competition, this 130,000 square feet building on a dense urban campus consolidates nine departments into a flexible learning environment that encourages collaborative student-faculty interaction while incorporating sustainable strategies to achieve Net Zero Energy and LEED-Gold targets.
The new Student Success Center separates the faculty offices from classrooms in two distinct wings, with an open-air, five-storey courtyard connecting the wings. The exterior reinterprets the campus’s existing brick architecture. The office wing is clad in brick, emphasising the concrete-slab structural system. Along the glass classroom wing, multicoloured black-out shades add visual variety. Inside, flexible classrooms allow re-arrangement of furniture configuration for different learning options. Nearly 70% of all classrooms and offices are located within 25ft of operable windows.
HGA utilised BIM, Rapid Prototyping, wind studies, daylighting analysis and biomimicry techniques to create energy-efficient and sustainable outcomes in an ideal learning environment. Sustainable highlights include natural ventilation, high-performance glazing, solar shading, high-albedo roof, energy-recovery wheel, and water-efficient landscaping, among other features.
The $58 million building is slated for completion in mid-2014. Pinner Construction serves as the general contractor for the design-build project.
