Umass Amherst’s new 70,000-sf Business Innovation Hub combines a new expansion with the partial renovation of the Isenberg School of Management. Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) designed the building with Goody Clancy as the architect of Record.
The building doubles the school’s current space and introduces new facilities for more than 150 staff and 5,000 students in undergraduate, master’s, and PhD programs. The exterior is wrapped in straight, vertical pillars that gradually slope downward, creating a domino effect and a triangular glass entrance. The exterior’s copper cladding will naturally weather from a dark ochre to a patina with long-term exposure to the elements.
Photo: Laurian Ghinitoiu.
Students and faculty will enter into the naturally-lit, 5,000-sf Learning Commons. This will be a place for learning, networking, and dining. The Learning Commons can also double as a venue for guest speakers, ceremonies, banquets, and career fairs.
See Also: 17-story Data Sciences building to rise on Boston University campus
The Business Innovation Hub extends directly into the existing 1964 building from the north and east sides in a wide circular loop. The loop consolidates Isenberg’s faculty and staff under one roof and creates a circular place of arrival. Various conference rooms and breakout areas are distributed throughout the loop.
Photo: Laurian Ghinitoiu.
“The new Business Innovation Hub at the Isenberg School of Management is conceived as an extension of both the building and the campus mall,” said Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Creative Director, BIG, in a release. “The linear structure is bent to form a full loop framing an internal courtyard for the life of the students. The façade is pulled away in a domino effect to create a generous invitation from the Haigis Mall to the Learning Commons. The mall and the courtyard – inside and outside form a forum for the students, the faculty and the profession to meet, mingle and mix society and academia.”
Photo: Laurian Ghinitoiu.
Innovation labs, advising spaces, and faculty offices are located on the second and third floors. Classrooms are equipped with integrated technology for distance learning and can be easily transformed for theater-style lectures or small group work.
The inner spaces of the extension face a circular courtyard that connects back to the campus via two pathways between the original Isenberg building and the Business Innovation Hub. Two bridges above these paths fuse the buildings.
Photo: Max Touhey.
Photo: Laurian Ghinitoiu.
Photo: Max Touhey.
Photo: Laurian Ghinitoiu.
Photo: Laurian Ghinitoiu.
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.
