Behnisch Architekten designed the Science and Engineering Complex, a new facility for Harvard University's Allston campus in Boston. It will be the home of the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS).
The 497,000-sf building will have a series of research boxes situated above a two-story transparent plinth. Classrooms and teaching labs will be in the plinth’s lowest floors, and isolated research labs will be in its highest floors. Fabrication shops, core research facilities, and a loading dock will be placed in below-grade levels. All levels are connected by a central atrium, which receives daylight from an attached courtyard.
Glass ribbons will wrap around the complex’s lowest levels. The upper boxes will be covered in a screen enclosure that both shields the building from solar heat gain during warmer months and reflects daylight into the interior.
The massing of the building will form a courtyard, which students and staff can use for outdoor recreation and other events.
The school expects 1,600 students and 360 staff members to use the building daily, and it anticipates the building to be open by 2020. Construction will begin this year.
(Click photos to enlarge)
The central atrium and the major entries have multi-story all-glass façades that are shaded by integrated roof planes at varying heights.
The massing of the building forms a new landscaped courtyard space suitable for outdoor recreation and events towards the site’s center.
As the primary home of the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), the complex will create public spaces at different scales throughout the building.
The new facility emphasises outdoor space, street activation, and integration with larger public space networks.
Related Stories
University Buildings | Dec 12, 2018
New Life Science Building at University of Washington designed for the next generation of research and teaching
Perkins+Will designed the facility.
University Buildings | Dec 10, 2018
Suffolk breaks ground on large housing/dining complex for UMass Dartmouth
This is the first phase of a large construction/renovation plan for the school’s main campus.
University Buildings | Nov 26, 2018
Vacant Dartmouth College building to become faculty and graduate student center
Leers Weinzapfel Associates designed the project.
Mixed-Use | Oct 25, 2018
Philadelphia’s uCity Square kicks off major expansion drive
This innovation center has several office, lab, and residential buildings in the works.
University Buildings | Oct 23, 2018
A building designed by architects, for architects
Kansas State University’s new College of Architecture Planning and Design places students at the center of the experience.
University Buildings | Oct 17, 2018
The Rhode Island School of Design receives its first new residence building in 30 years
The building was designed by a former RISD student.
University Buildings | Oct 11, 2018
Chapman University opens new science and engineering center
AC Martin designed the building.
University Buildings | Oct 8, 2018
One size doesn't fit all: Student housing is not a pair of socks
While the programming and design for these buildings all kept a holistic living/learning experience at the core, they also had amazingly different outcomes.
University Buildings | Sep 6, 2018
Construction begins on North Carolina State University’s new engineering building
Skanska is building the facility.
University Buildings | Sep 4, 2018
Rutgers University Welcome Center creates branded experience for visitors and prospective students
JZA+D designed the space.
