The recently completed Engineering Research Center (ERC) at Brown University provides the school with 80,000 sf of space across three-floors. The building houses specialized research facilities for nanomaterials, photonics, and environmental science to help expand research in renewable energy and advanced materials.
Among the new $88-million facility’s spaces are an 8,000-sf cleanroom for nanomaterials, microelectronics, and photonics, an imaging suite, a bioimaging suite, 22 open-plan research labs, 116 dedicated workstations for graduate students, 20 lab modules, 10 conference/meeting spaces, and a café.
Photo: Warren Jagger Photography.
Also included are the Hazeltine Commons on the building’s first floor and Giancarlo Plaza, a green space outside the building’s front doors. These two spaces are designed to create an “intellectual community” for faculty and students from across the campus.
The ERC is is tracking LEED Gold Certification with an energy and performance goal of 25% better than minimum efficiency and performance criteria established in the Rhode Island-adopted International Energy Conservation Code. Among the building’s sustainable features are 60 glass reinforced concrete vertical fins to manage solar gain, four water-filling stations, and a façade made from 40% glass to capture natural daylight and lower energy costs.
Photo: Warren Jagger Photography.
Shawmut Design and Construction used Integrated Project Delivery and Lean Construction delivery methods to finish the building months ahead of schedule. This is the first time a Brown University building was completed using these methods.
See Also: Virginia Commonwealth has at least three major expansion projects under construction
Photo: Warren Jagger Photography.
Photo: Warren Jagger Photography.
Related Stories
| Jul 24, 2012
Military Housing firm announces expansion into student housing
The company has partnered with the military to build, renovate and manage nearly 21,000 homes with more than 65,000 bedrooms, situated on more than 10,000 acres of land nationwide.
| Jul 20, 2012
2012 Giants 300 Special Report
Ranking the leading firms in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction.
| Jul 20, 2012
Higher education market holding steady
But Giants 300 University AEC Firms aren’t expecting a flood of new work.
| Jul 16, 2012
Business school goes for maximum vision, transparency, and safety with fire rated glass
Architects were able to create a 2-hour exit enclosure/stairwell that provided vision and maximum fire safety using fire rated glazing that seamlessly matched the look of other non-rated glazing systems.
| Jul 11, 2012
Perkins+Will designs new home for Gateway Community College
Largest one-time funded Connecticut state project and first designed to be LEED Gold.
| Jul 9, 2012
Integrated Design Group completes UCSB data center
Firm uses European standard of power at USCB North Hall Research Data Center.
| Jun 8, 2012
Thornton Tomasetti/Fore Solutions provides consulting for renovation at Tufts School of Dental Medicine
Project receives LEED Gold certification.
| Jun 8, 2012
Chestnut Hill College dedicates Jack and Rosemary Murphy Gulati complex
Casaccio Yu Architects designed the 11,300-sf fitness and social complex.
