The 58,000-sf Harvard University Allston Campus District Energy Facility (DEF) will provide electricity, hot water, and chilled water to the Allston campus. The building represents a new infrastructure typology dubbed the cogeneration plant.
Designed by Leers Weinzapfel Associates, the DEF uses a compact cubic form with rounded corners that allows for maximum flexibility of future development and is a visible demonstration of cost-effective sustainability in building. The facility is wrapped in metal fins that form a screen around it, with “petal-like” elements set at varying degrees of openness to reveal or conceal the various equipment areas within.
Rendering courtesy of Leers Weinzapfel Associates.
The fins are most open at the building’s corner entry and round the thermal energy storage tank. They are most closed on the service sides. The fins are raised above the ground on the public face of the building to reveal the main equipment hall to passersby.
The DEF’s transparent interior allows it to be used as a teaching tool for the university’s new science and engineering campus. People can observe the cogeneration plant’s complicated system of chillers, boilers, piping, pumps and flues, and electrical tools.
Rendering courtesy of Leers Weinzapfel Associates.
RMF Engineering designed the DEF’s equipment systems, which are efficient, resilient, and adaptable to the campus’s future needs. A chilled water reserve tank provides thermal energy to support efficient equipment use and equipment elevated above flood levels supports resiliency for continuous independent operation of the facility, even in the event of electrical grid failure.
The project is slated for completion in 2019.
Rendering courtesy of Leers Weinzapfel Associates.
Related Stories
Game Changers | Jan 12, 2018
‘Kit of parts’ anchors university’s remake
Sasaki designs interchangeable spaces to support a major educational shift at Mexico’s largest university system.
Education Facilities | Jan 8, 2018
Three former school buildings are repurposed to create mini-campus for teacher education
The $25.3 million project is currently under construction on the Winona State University campus.
Healthcare Facilities | Jan 6, 2018
A new precision dental center embodies Columbia University’s latest direction for oral medicine education
The facility, which nests at “the core” of the university’s Medical Center, relies heavily on technology and big data.
Big Data | Jan 5, 2018
In the age of data-driven design, has POE’s time finally come?
At a time when research- and data-based methods are playing a larger role in architecture, there remains a surprisingly scant amount of post-occupancy research. But that’s starting to change.
Mixed-Use | Jan 5, 2018
USC Village is the largest development in the history of the University of Southern California
USC Village comprises six buildings and 1.25 million sf.
Adaptive Reuse | Jan 4, 2018
Student housing development on Chapman University campus includes adaptive reuse of 1918 packing house
The Packing House was originally built for the Santiago Orange Growers Association.
University Buildings | Dec 20, 2017
New residence hall to house 500 students at Duke University
The project was designed by William Rawn Architects and will be built by Skanska.
University Buildings | Dec 5, 2017
UCLA’s Hedrick Study combines a library, lounge, and dining hall
Johnson Favaro designed the space.
University Buildings | Dec 4, 2017
The University of Nebraska’s new College of Business building highlights entrepreneur alumni and corporate leaders
Numerous storytelling spaces and displays are located throughout the building.
Wood | Nov 30, 2017
The first large-scale mass timber residence hall in the U.S. is under construction at the University of Arkansas
Leers Weinzapfel Associates, Modus Studio, Mackey Mitchell Architects, and OLIN collaborated on the design.
