The new Robert W. Plaster Center for Advanced Manufacturing at Ozarks Technical Community College in Springfield, Mo., is a first-of-a-kind educational asset in the region. The 125,000-sf facility will educate and train a new generation in high tech, clean manufacturing and fabrication.
Strong, metallic materials and geometric forms make up the shining facade, creating a modern, creative feel. Flexibility was a key goal of the program; thus, the Center is designed to be open, with tracks for movable walls to adjust to varying class sizes and new configurations.
The building’s core is a workshop high bay area, featuring more than 30,000 sf of active learning environments that are double- and triple-height, encased in steel and glass. This design element puts the work of students and industry partner collaboration on display.
These spaces are stocked with advanced equipment, including 3D printers, laser cutters, robotic welders, computer-aided lathes, mechatronics stations, and an overhead gantry crane.
Classrooms are arranged alongside the high bay for seamless transitions from class to lab, while the glass collaboration zones overlook a 500-foot-long high bay space that is leasable to relocating or start-up companies. This area fronts one of Springfield’s main thoroughfares.
The new facility occupies a long, skinny site, and needed to provide tractor trailer access at multiple points. This created a design challenge to fit in with the pedestrian-friendly campus.
Like stitches holding different pieces of fabric together, the places between academic spaces pull together the large, open spaces full of glass and steel with playful, warm wood details bringing warmth to quiet study spaces. The flexible design encourages and supports both short- and longer-term training opportunities with a range of learning environments, including:
- Specialized hands-on learning environments
- Customizable simulation training centers
- Long-distance learning space
- Research and development labs
- Designated process-improvement space
- Business incubation test centers
- A large high-bay environment for industry-led projects.
A large assembly stair occupies the two-story lobby, flooded with daylight and equipped for presentations to large groups from busloads of middle school students to corporate investors.
On the project team:
Owner and/or developer: Ozarks Technical Community College
Design architect: Perkins and Will
Architect of record: Dake Wells Architecture
MEP engineers: Antella Consulting Engineers (electrical engineer); Henderson Engineers (mechanical, plumbing, fire protection engineer)
Structural engineer: J&M Engineering
General contractor/construction manager: Crossland Construction
Related Stories
| Jan 21, 2011
Nothing dinky about these residences for Golden Gophers
The Sydney Hall Student Apartments combines 125 student residences with 15,000 sf of retail space in the University of Minnesota’s historic Dinkytown neighborhood, in Minneapolis.
| Jan 21, 2011
Virginia community college completes LEED Silver science building
The new 60,000-sf science building at John Tyler Community College in Midlothian, Va., just earned LEED Silver, the first facility in the Commonwealth’s community college system to earn this recognition. The facility, designed by Burt Hill with Gilbane Building Co. as construction manager, houses an entire floor of laboratory classrooms, plus a new library, student lounge, and bookstore.
| Jan 20, 2011
Community college to prepare next-gen Homeland Security personnel
The College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, Ill., began work on the Homeland Security Education Center, which will prepare future emergency personnel to tackle terrorist attacks and disasters. The $25 million, 61,100-sf building’s centerpiece will be an immersive interior street lab for urban response simulations.
| Jan 19, 2011
Biomedical research center in Texas to foster scientific collaboration
The new Health and Biomedical Sciences Center at the University of Houston will facilitate interaction between scientists in a 167,000-sf, six-story research facility. The center will bring together researchers from many of the school’s departments to collaborate on interdisciplinary projects. The facility also will feature an ambulatory surgery center for the College of Optometry, the first of its kind for an optometry school. Boston-based firms Shepley Bulfinch and Bailey Architects designed the project.
| Dec 28, 2010
Project of the Week: Community college for next-gen Homeland Security personnel
The College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, Ill., began work on the Homeland Security Education Center, which will prepare future emergency personnel to tackle terrorist attacks and disasters. The $25 million, 61,100-sf building’s centerpiece will be an immersive interior street lab for urban response simulations.
| Dec 17, 2010
Sam Houston State arts programs expand into new performance center
Theater, music, and dance programs at Sam Houston State University have a new venue in the 101,945-sf, $38.5 million James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Arts Center. WHR Architects, Houston, designed the new center to connect two existing buildings at the Huntsville, Texas, campus.
| Dec 17, 2010
New engineering building goes for net-zero energy
A new $90 million, 250,000-sf classroom and laboratory facility with a 450-seat auditorium for the College of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign is aiming for LEED Platinum.
| Dec 17, 2010
How to Win More University Projects
University architects representing four prominent institutions of higher learning tell how your firm can get the inside track on major projects.
| Nov 23, 2010
The George W. Bush Presidential Center, which will house the former president’s library
The George W. Bush Presidential Center, which will house the former president’s library and museum, plus the Bush Institute, is aiming for LEED Platinum. The 226,565-sf center, located at Southern Methodist University, in Dallas, was designed by architect Robert A.M. Stern and landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh.
| Nov 9, 2010
Just how green is that college campus?
The College Sustainability Report Card 2011 evaluated colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada with the 300 largest endowments—plus 22 others that asked to be included in the GreenReportCard.org study—on nine categories, including climate change, energy use, green building, and investment priorities. More than half (56%) earned a B or better, but 6% got a D. Can you guess which is the greenest of these: UC San Diego, Dickinson College, University of Calgary, and Dartmouth? Hint: The Red Devil has turned green.
