We are pleased to announce that the New London Hall Life Sciences Building has been selected for recognition by the BSA’s 2013 Education Facilities Awards jury. The awards jury selects recipients on the basis of design excellence. New London Hall falls into the Higher-Education Facilities category of this awards program. This building earned LEED Gold Certification earlier this year.
Located on an open and historic campus, the existing science building overlooks Long Island Sound to the south and the Thames River to the east. The renovated and expanded science building, together with the adjacent buildings shapes a new exterior space called Centennial Plaza, which has become the outdoor heart of the science precinct.
The original building, the College’s first campus building in 1914, is a four-story Collegiate Gothic style building featuring a granite exterior. As the teaching labs and research labs had fallen into disrepair, the new addition and renovation provided an extraordinary opportunity to revitalize the historical features of the building, such as clerestory windows and open ceilings, while creating a modern science building.
Initially envisioned by the College as a new 51,000 GSF building located between the library and the Student Center, we determined an addition/renovation would meet the needs of the College’s science programming while maintaining the existing historic building. The new construction contains large teaching labs and classrooms, collaboration spaces, an elevator and new energy-efficient mechanical infrastructure serving the renovated spaces. The proportions and form of the addition respectfully emulates the existing historic building, whereas the exterior materials reflect a distinctly forward-looking spirit. The glazed connector, known as the “link,” between the existing granite building and the terracotta portion of the addition accommodates a key path on campus, allowing non-science majors to pass through the building and interact with the science programs at the heart of the campus.
The level of the award that the project has received—Honor level, Award level or Citation level—will be kept confidential until the BSA’s annual Awards Gala in January 2014.
Related Links
Energy Savings: Connecticut College
Harmonizing Old and New
Connecticut College, New London Hall Earns LEED® Gold
cultureNOW Podcast with Bob Schaeffner
Cape Cod Community College’s Frank and Maureen Wilkens Science and Engineering Center is a net-positive energy building designed to transform the heart of campus.
The project approaches sustainability through a holistic and global approach, implementing a range of moves including passive solar shading overhangs, air-source heat pumps, high performance materials with low embodied carbon and the expansion of the range of thermal comfort and lighting power density. Combined with on-site photovoltaics, the project achieves net-positive energy use.
The project’s thermally modified wood rainscreen façade is a study of the modern expression of vernacular Cape Cod architecture while reducing embodied carbon. Early lifecycle assessments identified the immense carbon savings of wood over fiber cement. The design team did not stop there, furthering reductions by peeling back unnecessary finishes like carpet and ceilings. Together, these decisions enabled a 19% reduction in embodied carbon.
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