The new home of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, designed by Perkins+Will, opened at the University at Buffalo. Co-locating the departments of computer science and electrical engineering in a single facility, the 133,000-sf Barbara and Jack Davis Hall creates an collaborative education and research environment.
Clad in glass and copper-colored panels, the three-story building thrusts outward from the core of the campus to establish a new identity for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the campus at large. Formerly scattered among seven different locations, the engineering campus is now focused and consolidated, with a defined “front door” for the school and a new quad and interior common spaces.??
Davis Hall will enable the University at Buffalo to expand research in nanotechnology, pattern recognition and bio-based security systems, among other fields. The hybrid design of the hall stresses the value of interactive space for learning and discovery. The building is organized around a glass-enclosed, multi-story gallery that facilitates pedestrian traffic into the existing campus, creates an interactive educational/research environment, and culminates in a multi-tiered student lounge that activates a new courtyard shared with the existing Marcel Breuer buildings.
Facing south, the glass gallery is a daylight-filled science commons that includes open staircases that allow for spontaneous student and staff interaction. It also comprises a series of interlocking volumes that include windows into laboratories for the active display of technological research. Throughout the building, which also houses the Center of Excellence in Document Analysis and Recognition (CEDAR) and the Center for Unified Biometrics and Sensors (CUBS), cross-disciplinary zones are distributed for informal gathering spaces equipped with SMART Boards.
The new hall is tracking for USGBC LEED Gold certification through features like enhanced building shell insulation, high-performance windows and energy efficient lighting, the building improves overall energy performance 33.8% above the baseline ASHRAE 90.1-2004 requirements. +
Related Stories
| Oct 6, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: Growing green building market supports 661,000 green jobs in the U.S.
Green jobs are already an important part of the construction labor workforce, and signs are that they will become industry standard.
| Oct 6, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: Dow Corning features new silicone weather barrier sealant
Modular Design Architecture >Dow Corning 758 sealant used in GreenZone modular high-performance medical facility.
| Oct 6, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: NEXT Living EcoSuite showcased
Tridel teams up with Cisco and Control4 to unveil the future of green condo living in Canada.
| Oct 6, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: Kingspan Insulated Panels spotlights first-of-its-kind Environmental Product Declaration
Updates to Path to NetZero.
| Oct 5, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: Johnson Controls announces Panoptix, a new approach to building efficiency
Panoptix combines latest technology, new business model and industry-leading expertise to make building efficiency easier and more accessible to a broader market.
| Oct 5, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: Software an architectural game changer
Interactive modeling software transforms the designbuild process.
| Oct 5, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: Tile manufacturer attains third-party certification for waste recycling processes
Crossville has joined with TOTO to recycle that company’s pre-consumer fired sanitary ware.
| Oct 5, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: Sustainable construction should stress durability as well as energy efficiency
There is now a call for making enhanced resilience of a building’s structure to natural and man-made disasters the first consideration of a green building.
| Oct 5, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: Solar PV canopy system expanded for architectural market
Turnkey systems create an aesthetic architectural power plant.
| Oct 5, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: Kohler builds sustainable booth at Greenbuild 2011
In a setting composed of reclaimed materials, biodegradable signage, energy-efficient lighting and more, exhibitor highlights its new products with ecological awareness.
