Harvard’s Science and Engineering Complex (SEC), designed to inspire learning and scientific discovery while showcasing sustainability, has completed construction.
The eight-story, 544,000-sf building is organized into three four-story volumes connected by two glazed, multi-story atria that provide light-filled social hubs for faculty and students. The upper stories are clad in a facade with a layered design that celebrates and calibrates the scale of the large volumes that comprise the research activities of the building, creates an identity for the complex, and plays a crucial role in the efficient energy performance of the building as well as occupant comfort.
In total, four principal facade types are used, including the world’s first hydroformed stainless-steel screen, which wraps the laboratory portion of the structure. This facade is precisely dimensioned to shield the interior from solar heat gain during warmer months while admitting beneficial sun during the winter. The screen also reflects daylight towards the interior while maintaining large view apertures.
Classrooms, makerspaces, teaching labs, and amenity spaces occupy the floors closer to the street, helping to showcase student work and engage with the community. The classrooms and meeting spaces vary in size and layout, ranging from typical, theater-style classrooms with sloped floors and fixed seating to flexible spaces that can be reconfigured into flipped classrooms for student-led discussions.
Located in the upper volumes are wet and dry research labs that provide researchers with solitude and security. Flexibility is ensured via modular, flexible laboratory environments, smart zoning of highly ventilated zones from dry spaces, and robust delivery of centralized lab services. Generous lounges located between the laboratory blocks provide connection points for students and faculty.
The SEC has been certified LEED Platinum.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Dual physics buildings aim for LEED Silver
Two new physics buildings providing 197,000 sf of teaching, study, and office space are opening at Texas A&M University. The $82.5-million George P. Mitchell '40 Physics Building and the George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy offer new research laboratories, graduate and undergraduate lounges, offices, a 468-seat lecture hall, and a 180-seat aud...
| Aug 11, 2010
University building gets revamped, reused
KSS Architects of Philadelphia is designing the addition and renovation to SUNY Cortland's Studio West, a 43,000-sf metal panel and brick building dating to 1948. The 20,000-sf, two-story addition will become the Professional Studies Building, housing the consolidated departments of Recreation, Parks, and Leisure Studies; Communications Disorders and Sciences; and Kinesiology and Sports Managem...
| Aug 11, 2010
Project is music to school's ears
Florida Gulf Coast University is building a $7.55 million Fine Arts Building on its campus near Ft. Myers, Fla. The 25,000-sf building—the first project in the school's plan for an entire music complex—will house the music program of the College of Arts and Sciences. The facility includes a 200-seat recital hall, rehearsal hall, music labs, studio rooms, and administration offices.
| Aug 11, 2010
BU students move into high-rise dorm
Boston University’s newest residential building rises 26 stories above the Charles River. Part of the school’s 10-acre John Hancock Student Village, the 396,000-sf tower houses 962 students and has three apartments for faculty use. The tower also has a large multipurpose room on the top floor.
| Aug 11, 2010
Expansion of chemistry facility no experiment
A September ground breaking at Wayne State University in Detroit puts the school’s A. Paul Schaap Chemistry Building and Lecture Hall on track for a December 2010 completion. The $37 million, 96,000-sf facility is the second phase of a two-phase project to expand and renovate the existing chemistry building.
| Aug 11, 2010
Polshek unveils design for University of North Texas business building
New York City-based architect Polshek Partnership unveiled its design scheme for the $70 million Business Leadership Building at the University of North Texas in Denton. Designed to provide UNT’s 5,600-plus business majors with a state-of-the-art learning environment, the 180,000-sf facility will include an open atrium, an internet café, and numerous study and tutoring rooms—al...
| Aug 11, 2010
Cooper Union academic building designed to reach LEED Platinum
Morphosis Architects and Gruzen Samton are collaborating on an ultra-green academic building for New York’s Cooper Union that is designed to achieve LEED Platinum certification. The program for the nine-story facility mixes state-of-the-art laboratories, classrooms, a multipurpose auditorium, and a range of public and social spaces.
| Aug 11, 2010
Utah research facility reflects Native American architecture
A $130 million research facility is being built at University of Utah's Salt Lake City campus. The James L. Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building—a USTAR Innovation Center—is being designed by the Atlanta office of Lord Aeck & Sargent, in association with Salt-Lake City-based Architectural Nexus.
| Aug 11, 2010
Construction begins on Louisiana State Sports Hall of Fame
Heavy construction and foundation work has started on the new Louisiana State Sports Hall of Fame and Regional History Museum in Natchitoches, La. Designed by Trahan Architects, Baton Rouge, the $12 million, 28,000-sf museum will be clad in sinker cypress planks as a nod to the region’s rich timber legacy and to help control light, views, and ventilation throughout the facility.
| Aug 11, 2010
Modest recession for education construction
Construction spending for education expanded modestly but steadily through March, while at the same time growth for other institutional construction had stalled earlier in 2009. Education spending is now at or near the peak for this building cycle. The value of education starts is off 9% year-to-date compared to 2008.
