The University of Hawaii West Oahu campus is nearing the completion of its newest building, the 43,000-sf Administration and Allied Health Building.
The new $36 million facility consolidates office space for campus leadership into a single location and also provides general purpose classrooms and wet/dry teaching laboratories for microbiology, cellular/molecular, anatomy/physiology, and organic chemistry.
Designed by Perkins+Will’s LA Studio in collaboration with KYA Design Group, the building design was inspired by the gable roof form of historic sugar mills common to the area. The building enclosure utilizes CMU (concrete masonry unit) as a monolithic skin with its texture and pattern inspired by traditional Hawaiian kapa (cloth).
Courtesy of Perkins+Will's LA Studio.
On the southern facade, deep, open-air lanais (balconies) connect the interior and outdoor circulation. The lanais act as a natural gathering space, an extension of the classroom, and are connected visually and physically to the Great Lawn.
“The challenge was how to best consolidate the distinct functions of teaching labs and classrooms within the same building as office space for the campus administration,” says Mark Tagawa, Associate Principal at Perkins+Will’s LA Studio, in a release. “We wanted to create a facility that interacted with the landscape in a sympathetic way, through water management, landscaping, and materiality. Cultural and ecological appropriateness was our filter for all design decisions.”
Courtesy of Perkins+Will's LA Studio.
The campus is located on former sugar cane land with a legacy of over 100 years of agriculture. Sustained tilling has left the topsoil depleted of organic matter, which decreases the ability to retain water and support new plant life. The project seeks to rectify this issue by restoring, healing, and rebuilding the topsoil via nitrogen fixing planting, implementing onsite ecological water and nutrient management, and regenerating and reviving native landscaping.
The Administration & Allied Health Building will open to students in spring 2019.
Courtesy of Perkins+Will's LA Studio.
Related Stories
| Jun 12, 2014
Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects' design selected for new UCSC facility
The planned site is a natural landscape among redwood trees with views over Monterey Bay, a site that the architects have called “one of the most beautiful they have ever worked on.”
| Jun 12, 2014
Austrian university develops 'inflatable' concrete dome method
Constructing a concrete dome is a costly process, but this may change soon. A team from the Vienna University of Technology has developed a method that allows concrete domes to form with the use of air and steel cables instead of expensive, timber supporting structures.
| Jun 11, 2014
5 ways Herman Miller's new office concept rethinks the traditional workplace
Today's technologies allow us to work anywhere. So why come to an office at all? Herman Miller has an answer.
| Jun 9, 2014
6 design strategies for integrating living and learning on campus
Higher education is rapidly evolving. As we use planning and design to help our clients navigate major shifts in culture, technology, and funding, it is essential to focus on strategies that help foster an education that is relevant after graduation. One way to promote relevance is to strengthen the bond between academic disciplines and the campus residential life experience.
| May 29, 2014
7 cost-effective ways to make U.S. infrastructure more resilient
Moving critical elements to higher ground and designing for longer lifespans are just some of the ways cities and governments can make infrastructure more resilient to natural disasters and climate change, writes Richard Cavallaro, President of Skanska USA Civil.
Sponsored | | May 27, 2014
Grim Hall opens the door to fire safety with fire-rated ceramic glass
For the renovation of Lincoln University’s Grim Hall life sciences building into a state-of-the-art computer facility, Tevebaugh Associates worked to provide students and faculty with improved life safety protection. Updating the 1925-era facility's fire-rated doors was an important component of the project.
| May 20, 2014
Kinetic Architecture: New book explores innovations in active façades
The book, co-authored by Arup's Russell Fortmeyer, illustrates the various ways architects, consultants, and engineers approach energy and comfort by manipulating air, water, and light through the layers of passive and active building envelope systems.
| May 19, 2014
What can architects learn from nature’s 3.8 billion years of experience?
In a new report, HOK and Biomimicry 3.8 partnered to study how lessons from the temperate broadleaf forest biome, which houses many of the world’s largest population centers, can inform the design of the built environment.
| May 13, 2014
19 industry groups team to promote resilient planning and building materials
The industry associations, with more than 700,000 members generating almost $1 trillion in GDP, have issued a joint statement on resilience, pushing design and building solutions for disaster mitigation.
| May 11, 2014
Final call for entries: 2014 Giants 300 survey
BD+C's 2014 Giants 300 survey forms are due Wednesday, May 21. Survey results will be published in our July 2014 issue. The annual Giants 300 Report ranks the top AEC firms in commercial construction, by revenue.
