Shawmut Design and Construction has recently completed the $120 million renovation of Smith College’s Neilson Library in Northampton, Ma. The project took the original, outdated building and reimagined it as the energy-efficient, intellectual heart of the campus.
In partnership with architectural designer Maya Lin and principal architect Shepley Bulfinch, the 200,000-sf project restored the building and created an energy-efficient design and flexible collaborative workspaces.
The building’s main entrance opens into a large atrium that features a four-story oculus. The building’s use of glass, wood, and stone works with the design to promote harmony with the surrounding exterior landscape, designed by Edwina von Gal with Ryan Associates.
The original 1909 facade is incorporated into the reimagined building, which is composed of three distinct sections: the central core and two new wings. The new wings are dubbed jewel boxes for their curved, light-filled design made from a mix of masonry, wood, and glass.
The north wing, named for Smith’s ninth president, Ruth J. Simmons, comprises spaces to support active learning and innovation. The south wing, named in honor of Smith’s eighth president, Mary Maples Dunn, brings together special collections (the Sophia Smith Collection, Rare Books, and College Archives) into one climate-controlled area.
SEE ALSO: MiraCosta Community College to receive new Chemistry and Biotechnology Building
Flexible, collaborative workspaces include the Learning Commons, the Jill Ker Conway Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center, and the Special Collections Seminar Room. A series of classroom spaces, a reading room, study areas, a sunken courtyard, and event spaces, and an outdoor amphitheater with shaded seating are also included.
A Digital Media Hub offers studios for students to record podcasts, videos, and use other digital media; self-service labs for students to use technologies such as spatial analysis, gaming software, survey software, and GIS; a User Experience Lab for research and usability testing; and access to large-format and 3D printers.
Additionally, the Neilson Library is now connected to the recently renovated Alumnae Gym via an interior walkway. The Alumnae Gym provides additional learning spaces that are open 24/7.
Sustainability features include a high-performance building envelope, advanced daylighting strategies, and materials that promote health and wellness. Throughout, the library incorporates materials that promote health and wellness by not containing harmful chemicals, as well as local, regional, and recycled products. The building has the ability to become an ‘all-electric’ complex and is pursuing LEED V.4, Gold Accreditation.
Related Stories
| Jul 23, 2014
Architecture Billings Index up nearly a point in June
AIA reported the June ABI score was 53.5, up from a mark of 52.6 in May.
| Jul 21, 2014
Economists ponder uneven recovery, weigh benefits of big infrastructure [2014 Giants 300 Report]
According to expert forecasters, multifamily projects, the Panama Canal expansion, and the petroleum industry’s “shale gale” could be saving graces for commercial AEC firms seeking growth opportunities in an economy that’s provided its share of recent disappointments.
| Jul 18, 2014
Contractors warm up to new technologies, invent new management schemes [2014 Giants 300 Report]
“UAV.” “LATISTA.” “CMST.” If BD+C Giants 300 contractors have anything to say about it, these new terms may someday be as well known as “BIM” or “LEED.” Here’s a sampling of what Giant GCs and CMs are doing by way of technological and managerial innovation.
| Jul 18, 2014
Top Construction Management Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, Barton Malow, Hill International top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest construction management and project management firms in the United States.
| Jul 18, 2014
Top Contractors [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Turner, Whiting-Turner, Skanska top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest contractors in the United States.
| Jul 18, 2014
Engineering firms look to bolster growth through new services, technology [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Following solid revenue growth in 2013, the majority of U.S.-based engineering and engineering/architecture firms expect more of the same this year, according to BD+C’s 2014 Giants 300 report.
| Jul 18, 2014
Top Engineering/Architecture Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, AECOM, Parsons Brinckerhoff top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest engineering/architecture firms in the United States.
| Jul 18, 2014
Top Engineering Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Fluor, Arup, Day & Zimmermann top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest engineering firms in the United States.
| Jul 18, 2014
Top Architecture Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Gensler, Perkins+Will, NBBJ top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest architecture firms in the United States.
| Jul 18, 2014
2014 Giants 300 Report
Building Design+Construction magazine's annual ranking the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S.
