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
| Apr 17, 2012
FMI report examines federal construction trends
Given the rapid transformations occurring in the federal construction sector, FMI examines the key forces accelerating these changes, as well as their effect on the industry.
| Apr 16, 2012
University of Michigan study seeks to create efficient building design
The result, the researchers say, could be technologies capable of cutting the carbon footprint created by the huge power demands buildings place on the nation’s electrical grid.
| Apr 16, 2012
UNT lab designed to study green energy technologies completed
Lab to test energy technologies and systems in order to achieve a net-zero consumption of energy.
| Apr 13, 2012
Goettsch Partners designs new music building for Northwestern
The showcase facility is the recital hall, an intimate, two-level space with undulating walls of wood that provide optimal acoustics and lead to the stage, as well as a 50-foot-high wall of cable-supported, double-skin glass
| Apr 11, 2012
C.W. Driver completes Rec Center on CSUN campus
The state-of-the-art fitness center supports university’s goal to encourage student recruitment and retention.
| Mar 28, 2012
Holden Cancer Center opens at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
The new cancer clinic provides a significant increase in patient space from the prior facility, which was located in an adjacent building.
| Mar 28, 2012
Tsoi/Kobis & Associates developing master plan for UT Southwestern Medical Center
Firm will spearhead strategies for transforming existing in-patient hospital into state-of-the-art ambulatory care facility.
| Mar 27, 2012
Groundbreaking held for Valencia College West Campus Building 10 in Orlando
Project led by design-build team of SchenkelShultz Architecture and McCree General Contractors, both of Orlando.
| Mar 26, 2012
McCarthy tops off Math and Science Building at San Diego Mesa College
Designed by Architects | Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker, the new San Diego Mesa College Math and Science Building will provide new educational space for students pursuing degree and certificate programs in biology, chemistry, physical sciences and mathematics.
| Mar 21, 2012
Iowa’s Mercy Medical Center’s new Emergency Department constructed using Lean design
New Emergency Department features a "racetrack" design with a central nurses' station encircled by 19 private patient examination rooms and 2 trauma treatment rooms.
