Campus Harmony

by Jonathan McGaha | June 30, 2013 12:00 am

Situated on a greenfield site, the new 73,000-square-foot
Life Science Building at Nassau Community College in Garden City, N.Y., attempts to reflect and leverage the surrounding natural beauty. Inspired by the campus context, the three-story facility features long rectilinear bars configured in a horseshoe fashion to create a courtyard whose open end is completed by a cluster of tall trees, forming one communal exterior green space.

On the building’s outer perimeter, the laboratory and lecture classrooms display the building’s function and activities while creating a formal front toward the main campus. Designed by New York City-based Cannon Design PC, the project features natural copperplate exterior wall panels from Pohl USA, West Valley City, Utah. The copper cladding helps the building harmonize with its natural context. Ever-changing in its appearance, the cladding reflects how the environment affects its color and patterning. First-floor entries and classroom activity are highlighted with porcelain tile panels, along with glass and aluminum storefronts from Glasswall Inc., Miami.

Faculty offices are distributed along the inner courtyard to create a feeling of community while encompassing a serene exterior green space for students. Glasswall also supplied a curtainwall system composed of transparent and translucent glass panes. The curtainwall provides a feeling of transparency, while at the same time allowing varying degrees of privacy to each office. A brightly colored steel plate portal and canopy from Mid Island Steel, Medford, N.Y., cantilevers above the courtyard to mark the entrance doors.

Pohl USA supplied 22,232 square feet of a natural copper plate rainscreen system; 7,710 square feet of a corrugated anodized aluminum rainscreen system; 1,317 square feet of a stainless steel plate rainscreen system at the service entrance; and 731 square feet of anodized aluminum plate at the entry canopies. While metal was selected for its appearance in its natural state, along with its sustainability, durability and recyclability, copper in specific was chosen for its potential to weather and change color, its low-maintenance requirements and natural
aesthetic value.

“The selection of natural copper as a cladding material was based on the building typology, surrounding context, durability and ease of maintenance,” notes Ernesto Trindade, AIA, LEED AP, vice president of architecture at Cannon Design PC. “Functioning as a Life Science Building and living laboratory, students will experience the effects of weather and climate as the building cladding changes patina, color and texture through the years. The copper panels also act as a complementary material to the existing exposed concrete campus buildings.”

The facility’s simple, yet elegant architecture fits in with the site and existing campus vocabulary. Its design creates clear, simple courtyards between both new and existing buildings, while conveying the building’s commitment to sustainability with green spaces and daylighting. The architects worked to create a sense of openness, along with a connection to the campus and places that enable departmental collaboration.

Architects paid careful attention to solar exposure, daylight and views for the building’s site, mass and floor plan configuration. The building’s eastern volume is cut short to allow morning sunlight to penetrate the courtyard seating areas and offices along the perimeter. The longer western volume provides shade from the afternoon sun and blocks the prevailing winds. To reduce the building’s energy footprint, all occupied spaces face the main campus or courtyard and are outfitted with daylight and occupancy sensors. All faculty office have operable windows to allow for natural light and nature views. Home to the nursing and chemistry departments, the Life Science Building opened in September 2012 and is expected to earn LEED Gold certification.

 

Life Science Building, Nassau Community College, Garden City, N.Y.

Award: 2013 North American Copper in Architecture Award from the Copper Development Association
Architect: Cannon Design PC[1], New York City
Construction manager: Jacobs Project Management Co.[2], New York City
General contractor: Aurora Contractors Inc.[3], Ronkonkoma, N.Y.
Installer: Island Acoustics[4], Bohemia, N.Y.
Curtainwall/storefronts: Glasswall Inc., Miami, www.glasswall.com[5]
Metal wall panels: Pohl USA, West Valley City, Utah, www.pohlusa.com[6]
Portal and canopy: Mid Island Steel, Medford, N.Y., www.midislandsteel.com[7]

Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/articles/campus-harmony/

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