Oklahoma’s Francis Tuttle Technology Center, which provides career-specific training to adults and high school students, has completed its Francis Tuttle Danforth Campus—a two-story, 155,000-sf academic building. The project aims to fill the growing community’s rising demand for affordable education and training.
Designed by Bockus Payne, the project provides space for core classes and student support areas. Classes at Francis Tuttle Danforth Campus will cover subjects such as entrepreneurship, engineering, biosciences and medicine, computer science, pre-nursing, cosmetology, automotive service technology, and interactive media. The building also houses a business incubator, seminar and training spaces for conferences, continuing education, and corporate training.
The exterior materials include a mix of wood, concrete, and stone that flow into the building’s interior. Set back from the main road, the split-level building is located on a site that drops 55 feet between the northwest and southwest corners. This reduces the impact of the building’s height on the surrounding residential neighborhoods. Oklahoma-centered landscaping complements the building design.
Students and visitors enter the building under a glass canopy. A glass-railed bridge, overlooking the light-filled rotunda, offers views of the front landscape and ponds. The rotunda provides a space to work, connect, and enjoy the abundant natural light. It also encourages instructors to come out of their classrooms and use the grand stair for student seating and learning. The corridors’ glass exterior walls filter light into the classrooms and labs.
With its new building, Francis Tuttle wants to facilitate the design thinking process, which centers empathy, expansive thinking, and experimentation. To achieve this, the highly flexible design includes classrooms with several furniture layouts, fostering small group collaboration and individual learning.
Glass entries in all classrooms and labs reveal the activities inside. Classrooms are open to corresponding labs, so concepts can be quickly demonstrated. And nooks in the corridor provide space for small group discussion.
On the Building Team:
Owner: Francis Tuttle Technology Center
Design architect: Bockus Payne
Architect of record: Bockus Payne
MEP engineer: Allen Consulting
Structural engineer: KFC Engineering
General contractor/construction manager: T. Scott Construction
Related Stories
University Buildings | Nov 13, 2022
University of Washington opens mass timber business school building
Founders Hall at the University of Washington Foster School of Business, the first mass timber building at Seattle campus of Univ. of Washington, was recently completed. The 84,800-sf building creates a new hub for community, entrepreneurship, and innovation, according the project’s design architect LMN Architects.
University Buildings | Nov 2, 2022
New Univ. of Calif. Riverside business school building will support hybrid learning
A design-build partnership of Moore Ruble Yudell and McCarthy Building Companies will collaborate on a new business school building at the University of California at Riverside.
K-12 Schools | Nov 1, 2022
Safety is the abiding design priority for K-12 schools
With some exceptions, architecture, engineering, and construction firms say renovations and adaptive reuse make up the bulk of their work in the K-12 schools sector.
School Construction | Oct 31, 2022
Claremont McKenna College science center will foster integrated disciplinary research
The design of the Robert Day Sciences Center at Claremont McKenna College will support “a powerful, multi-disciplinary, computational approach to the grand socio-scientific challenges and opportunities of our time—gene, brain, and climate,” says Hiram E. Chodosh, college president.
University Buildings | Oct 27, 2022
The Collaboratory Building will expand the University of Florida’s School of Design, Construction, and Planning
Design firm Brooks + Scarpa recently broke ground on a new addition to the University of Florida’s School of Design, Construction, and Planning (DCP).
Higher Education | Oct 24, 2022
Wellesley College science complex modernizes facility while preserving architectural heritage
A recently completed expansion and renovation of Wellesley College’s science complex yielded a modernized structure for 21st century STEM education while preserving important historical features.
BAS and Security | Oct 19, 2022
The biggest cybersecurity threats in commercial real estate, and how to mitigate them
Coleman Wolf, Senior Security Systems Consultant with global engineering firm ESD, outlines the top-three cybersecurity threats to commercial and institutional building owners and property managers, and offers advice on how to deter and defend against hackers.
Education Facilities | Oct 13, 2022
A 44-acre campus serves as a professional retreat for public-school educators in Texas
A first-of-its-kind facility for public schools in Texas, the Holdsworth Center serves as a retreat for public educators, supporting reflection and dialogue.
K-12 Schools | Sep 21, 2022
Architecture that invites everyone to dance
If “diversity” is being invited to the party in education facilities, “inclusivity” is being asked to dance, writes Emily Pierson-Brown, People Culture Manager with Perkins Eastman.
| Sep 14, 2022
Indian tribe’s new educational campus supports culturally appropriate education
The Kenaitze Indian Tribe recently opened the Kahtnuht’ana Duhdeldiht Campus (Kenai River People’s Learning Place), a new education center in Kenai, Alaska.
