Science Scene

by Christopher Brinckerhoff | April 1, 2021 12:00 am

Three Volumes

The central volume is larger than the two volumes at its sides and is used for conferences, seminars and group studying. Through the glazing on the two smaller volumes, four laboratories are visible, two at ground level and two at the second floor. Colored glass and other elements give the volumes blue, yellow and red appearances.

Mark Kranz, FAIA, vice president and design director at SmithGroup’s office in Phoenix, says, “The project’s three primary student collaboration spaces or pods are flipped inside out to expose social spaces, while also creating a new campus edge. Maroon, gold and blue spandrel glass, coupled with interior use of color, reinforce the campus’ branding at the three marquee collaboration and seminar spaces.”

More specifically, Kranz says, “Student activities on the interior are intentionally exposed externally, as well as four of the building’s most interesting and technically complex instructional laboratories. Collaboration and meeting spaces are provocatively expressed at State Street, creating a vantage point from the building interior to engage with the surrounding community, while the four most active and interesting chemistry and biology labs are located at the main hub space and put on display for students and visitors, intended to elevate recruitment and community awareness.”

In terms of construction, the three volumes are clad with dark-colored metal composite material (MCM) panels. A pattern of vertical and horizontal lines is repeated with fenestration framing and the metal panel sizes.

“These pods are wrapped with darker MCM panels that are rhythmic with the playful fenestrations and textures along State Street, creating a protected walkway hugging the building for students and staff.”

St. Paul, Minn.-based Atomic Sheet Metal Inc. installed 16,822 square feet of Davidson, N.C.-based 3A Composites USA Inc.’s ALUCOBOND PLUS MCM panels in Dark Bronze. Aluminum interior and exterior facings are 0.02-inch thick for flatness and the panels have a 4-mm-thick fire-resistant core.

To provide shading in spaces between the three volumes, metal mesh was used. “Between these three collaboration pods is a scrim made of a series of light metal mesh panels that allow diffused natural daylight to enter the building and also reduce glare for the interior study and conference spaces,” Kranz says.

Atomic Sheet Metal installed1,344 square feet of Cambridge, Md.-based Cambridge Architectural metal mesh in the Cubist pattern. The 0.375-inch-thick mesh has an 80% open area.

Entrance and Lobby

The building puts science on display via its main entrance and lobby. “A functional front porch is created with the large protective overhang, offering the community and the university a dedicated plaza space for events and activities,” Kranz says. “The plaza spills outdoors from the two-story lobby, which features a series of terrariums highlighting biomes and ecosystem of the Dakotas, putting science on display, and creating a regional destination for STEM education and research.”

An overhang at the main entrance continues around the building, forming circulation and gathering spaces. “Designed as an educational building that also offers gathering and event spaces for the surrounding community, the science center’s front porch is warm and welcoming,” Kranz says. “Its gracious two-story lobby flows from the interior to the exterior plaza to create a community living room at this important entry corner into campus. The large overhang that protects this plaza is wrapped with a warm linear metal soffit, the first of its kind on campus, that elegantly flows into the lobby ceiling, creating a sense of warmth for the community in this colder climate.”

Atomic Sheet Metal installed 11,818 square feet of Los Angeles-based USG Ceilings Plus LLC’s Planx-Mirra linear ceiling system. Precision, brake-form-detailed panels are attached to a concealed carrier suspended from the structure above. The aluminum panels are finished with a polyester paint.

New Campus Entrance

Similar to the education in the science center being put on display, the science center draws attention to the college by creating a new entrance to the campus.

“Located on the primary entry into campus, the project is intentionally pushed to the street to create a new iconic campus gateway and creating a new urban edge,” Kranz says. “The project signals a transformational moment and investment for Northern State University, a small university in northeastern South Dakota, creating a new front door for the university and turning the building inside out at the campus edge to provocatively express student learning.”

Campus Tours

Another way the facility puts science education on display is through its role as a primary portion of campus tours for prospective students.

“The lobby displays are the final destination of a tour that begins in the project’s backyard, a highly choreographed sequence of tour route stops for educational events held by the university,” Kranz says. “The sequence includes the greenhouse and exhibit garden, a landscape and nature walk that describes native foliage and tree species of the prairie. Once a campus that lacked a sense of arrival and identity, the science center dramatically punctuates a new a progressive brand identity in this sleepy college town.”

Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/articles/science-scene/

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