The University of Notre Dame’s 10-year Master Plan will reinvigorate the Colleges of Science and Engineering across 14 buildings through a utilization study and concepts that renew learning and research space.
Science and engineering at Notre Dame has experienced tremendous growth in the past ten years with the construction of new buildings for learning and research. Yet much of Notre Dame’s learning and research space remains in legacy buildings that struggle to host interdisciplinary research and active learning environments. Notre Dame’s goal for the study is to create state-of-the-art, inviting, innovative and efficient spaces that stimulate collaboration and increase productivity among faculty, staff and students to meet ever-evolving research, teaching and learning needs. The study consists of both a utilization assessment and a renovation plan for 14 buildings totaling 1.5 million gross square feet.
The Master Plan for science and engineering targets key deficiencies between Notre Dame’s space and peer institutions and advances key initiatives in each College. Extensive outreach and engagement with departments, students, graduate researchers and the office of the VP of Research established goals and priorities for campus improvements. An interactive survey provided detailed feedback about the priorities and patterns of use across College buildings.
University of Notre Dame
Master Plan for the Colleges of Science and Engineering
Project Statistics
LOCATION
Notre Dame, Indiana
COMPLETed
2023
TOTAL Area
1,500,000 GSF
PROGRAM COMPONENTS
Science: Applied and Computational Math and Statistics; Biological Sciences; Chemistry and Biochemistry; Mathematics; and Physics.
Engineering: Aerospace and Mechanical; Chemical and Biochemical; Civil and Environmental/Earth Sciences; Computer Science; and Electrical Engineering
Team
Peter F. Viera, FAIA, LEED AP
Design Principal
Diana Tsang, AIA, LEED AP BD+C
Project Manager
Tom Simister, AIA, LEED AP
Lead Planner
Nicholas Berube, AIA
Planner
Dante Gil Rivas
Designer
strategic planning
PAYETTE conducted extensive building tours, lab tours and meetings with individual faculty to understand quality, density, layout, technical requirements and barriers to successful space utilization.
The result of this deep engagement with Notre Dame is a series of proposals that challenge limitations of legacy buildings to be more community oriented, suffused with daylight and views, and fundamentally useful as research and learning platforms. Phasing, swing space needs and a detailed analysis of building systems and infrastructure are necessary to test feasibility and establish project budgets.
Space analysis and benchmarking informs the development of research space standards for disciplines ranging from computational to synthetic chemistry.
Utilization assessment of learning spaces led to recommendations for combining engineering teaching labs and classroom spaces and creating more active learning space for science. Special attention was paid to the need for a co-curricular home space in engineering.
Exterior changes to existing buildings challenge mid-century structures to improve their connection to Notre Dame’s historic campus. Identity, entry, accessibility and connection to the campus fabric were investigated relative to the campus today and how they were originally imagined at the time each building was constructed. Interventions improve the legibility and connectivity of College buildings to the campus and were synchronized with the University’s master plan framework.
