LS3P

This technology-centric 100,000 SF advanced-manufacturing-training facility was designed to embody the stimulating environment of modern manufacturing. The College was seeking to attract a new generation of students by creating a place that represents the critical-thinking-driven industry of the future. The ultimate goal was to create a facility for education and research, enhancing the students’ employment prospects and strengthening the economic development of the region.

Strategies employed to attract the students/corporate partners to the College and engage them in the advanced manufacturing path included:
• Selecting a new College campus site along a major interstate and adjacent to a University’s graduate engineering research campus: the new facility is sited to serve as a new landmark for the College.
• Presenting a “machined” appearance that expresses high-tech manufacturing: silver/grey metal and clear glass materials offer a technology-oriented architectural expression for this building that sets it apart from the College’s “tan brick and bronze glass” heritage of its other campuses, defining a new brand for this facility and curriculum.
• Providing a people-oriented building that encourages interaction between students and faculty, and between industrial leaders and the community: the facility includes numerous spaces and alcoves for informal study groups, social interaction, conferences, receptions, and connections with the outdoor setting.
• Leading people through a journey of discovery about advanced manufacturing: the journey begins as you drive into the campus, seeing the tech-centric “machined” building in sharp contrast with the park-like setting on the edge of a forested riparian valley. Then you park in a terraced lot that breaks down the scale of parking by leveraging the sloping site with a series of rain gardens. Leaving your car, you follow a serpentine walkway that responds to the contours of the site. As you approach the front entry, the building reaches out to draw you into a narrow gap between the two blocks of the building. A bridge leads you to the front doors, where you get your first peak at the activities inside the building. As you step inside, the views immediately communicate the overall story of this place, overlooking the high-bay lab space to see the advanced manufacturing floor at the same time that you look through the collaborative study areas to the forested outdoor setting. The serpentine pathway that began in the parking lot continues across the entry bridge and through the lobby to its ultimate destination on an exterior balcony overlooking the forested valley with a glimpse of the interstate freeway beyond. The physical journey into and through this building becomes a metaphor for the purpose of this facility: to serve as a bridge between workforce training and the successful economic growth of the region.
• Using transparency as a recruiting and engaging tool: as you approach the front of the building, there are only a few transparent windows looking into the facility, giving the sense that you need to explore further to discover what this place is all about. Once you have entered the building, you immediately experience the highly transparent views between the circulation areas and the training/teaching zones, and through the back of the building to the forest outside. Visiting students and corporate partners can clearly see the benefits of working in this environment.

The site features 80 feet of slope leading down to a forested valley. The building layout works with the general contours by forming two linear boxes intersecting at a hinge point and rotated to fit the topography.

Serving as a metaphor for teaching students about manufacturing technology, the building reads as a series of “machined” components that are pulled apart and exposed to view. Exterior wing walls are extruded and the functions of the structure and building systems are clearly seen. Splayed exterior walls are pulled out of the building blocks to create visually open study alcoves while blocking direct western sun. The central spine of the building is pulled up and out to create an open space that provides informal social/study space with visual connections to all activities inside the building along with panoramic views to the outside.

A bridge metaphor represents the transition from student to employee from training to industry. Visitors cross a bridge to reach the lobby, where they see down into the high-bay labs. The high-bay spaces also feature interior balconies so that visitors can experience the training activities from a safe elevated vantage point.

A centralized monumental stair anchors the building, descending from the entry level to a grade-level space with broad views to nature. Part staircase and part auditorium, this space brings in a people-centered aesthetic with a warm palette of wood, serving as a social interaction point.

The design achieved Two Globes under the Green Globes rating system for sustainable strategies such as low-VOC materials, high-efficiency HVAC systems, high-performance glass, and LED lighting with individual controls.