As part of an ambitious expansion and renovation campaign, for which it has raised in excess of $125 million, Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Mich., recently debuted its $16.9 million, 36,700-sf A. Alfred Taubman Engineering, Architecture, and Life Sciences Complex, which is home to the Marburger STEM Center, and provides a collaborative learning environment for emerging technologies such as robotics, biomedical engineering, and mechatronics.
The building, which opened in August, combines the Science and Engineering Buildings. Thom Mayne of Morphosis Architects, the project’s Design Director, designed the Complex as an “extruable section” of the campus, meaning that it is expandable as needed. Subsequent phases of this project could include an addition to the one-story wing of the Engineering Building, more classrooms and lab space, and expanded resources for programs such as Architectural Engineering and Industrial Design.
Two floors of labs overlook an open flex space that’s the heart of the Complex, with a reconfigurable hall for meetings and lectures. Clerestory glazing fills this space with light defused with an ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) scrim along its east and west facades.
The building establishes a new axis for the campus, as it is linked to neighboring buildings by lifted bridges. It also creates a new focal point for the University’s quad thanks to a 44-foot-high carbon-fiber circulation “orb,” floating above a reflecting pool, which contains a main staircase and marks the entry of the building.
A 44-foot-high orb, the entry to the Taubman Complex, includes an interior stairwell with translucent floors that let in natural light. Image: ©Nic Lehoux
The orb is capped at both ends by circular skylights that let sunlight in through translucent floors of the stairwell. To accommodate the design of the curved structure, Albert Kahn Associates, the project’s AOR and EOR, oversaw the rigorous testing and manufacturing processes to achieve a first-of-its-kind carbon fiber composite formulation and application. (Kahn includes several LTU alumni, including Alan Cobb, FAIA, the firm’s president and CEO, who was Executive Architect on this project.)
The carbon fiber is layered with wedge shapes, like a football, which allows the orb to maintain its structural integrity.
Professional Engineering Association served as the civil engineering consultant on the project. The Mannick & Smith Group provided geotechnical advice. The building is shooting for LEED Silver certification.
The new building includes a large, flexible open space with a reconfigurable hall for meetings and conferences. Image: ©Nic Lehoux
Related Stories
| Oct 12, 2010
Cell and Genome Sciences Building, Farmington, Conn.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Silver Award. Administrators at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington didn’t think much of the 1970s building they planned to turn into the school’s Cell and Genome Sciences Building. It’s not that the former toxicology research facility was in such terrible shape, but the 117,800-sf structure had almost no windows and its interior was dark and chopped up.
| Oct 12, 2010
Full Steam Ahead for Sustainable Power Plant
An innovative restoration turns a historic but inoperable coal-burning steam plant into a modern, energy-efficient marvel at Duke University.
| Oct 6, 2010
From grocery store to culinary school
A former West Philadelphia supermarket is moving up the food chain, transitioning from grocery store to the Center for Culinary Enterprise, a business culinary training school.
| Sep 16, 2010
Green recreation/wellness center targets physical, environmental health
The 151,000-sf recreation and wellness center at California State University’s Sacramento campus, called the WELL (for “wellness, education, leisure, lifestyle”), has a fitness center, café, indoor track, gymnasium, racquetball courts, educational and counseling space, the largest rock climbing wall in the CSU system.
| Sep 13, 2010
Community college police, parking structure targets LEED Platinum
The San Diego Community College District's $1.555 billion construction program continues with groundbreaking for a 6,000-sf police substation and an 828-space, four-story parking structure at San Diego Miramar College.
| Sep 13, 2010
Campus housing fosters community connection
A 600,000-sf complex on the University of Washington's Seattle campus will include four residence halls for 1,650 students and a 100-seat cafe, 8,000-sf grocery store, and conference center with 200-seat auditorium for both student and community use.
| Sep 13, 2010
China's largest single-phase hospital planned for Shanghai
RTKL's Los Angles office is designing the Shanghai Changzheng New Pudong Hospital, which will be the largest new hospital built in China in a single phase.
| Sep 13, 2010
Richmond living/learning complex targets LEED Silver
The 162,000-sf living/learning complex includes a residence hall with 122 units for 459 students with a study center on the ground level and communal and study spaces on each of the residential levels. The project is targeting LEED Silver.
| Sep 13, 2010
'A Model for the Entire Industry'
How a university and its Building Team forged a relationship with 'the toughest building authority in the country' to bring a replacement hospital in early and under budget.
| Sep 13, 2010
Committed to the Core
How a forward-looking city government, a growth-minded university, a developer with vision, and a determined Building Team are breathing life into downtown Phoenix.
