Denning House completes at Stanford University

Denning House, the new home for the Knight-Dennessy Scholars Program, has completed at Stanford University. The new building will be a gathering place for a community of graduate scholars across diverse disciplines where they can share ideas and develop as leaders.

Denning House offers a variety of meeting, classroom, and dining spaces. The spaces are offered in formal and informal settings, large and small sizes, indoors and outdoors, and are suitable for individual study, small gatherings, or large events. The building was built on the site of a former parking lot surrounded by a dense forested landscape of California oaks.

The building’s design places the dining space, classrooms, and lounges on the second floor to take advantage of the surrounding views. The administration, conference, and back-of-house facilities are located on the ground floor. The 18,000-sf facility uses a Douglas fir wood structure and surfaces throughout the interior and cypress cladding on the exterior to give it the feel of a treehouse. The south side of the building comprises a wall of bird-friendly glass that opens up to an outdoor deck that runs the length of the structure.

AI ChatBots, ambient computing, floating MRIs, low-carbon cement, sunshine on demand, next-generation top-down construction. These and 35 other innovations make up our 2024 Great Solutions Report, which highlights fresh ideas and innovations from leading architecture, engineering, and construction firms.

University of Louisville's J.B. Speed School of Engineering Student Success Building. Rendering courtesy SmithGroup

University Buildings | Jul 17, 2024

University of Louisville Student Success Building will be new heart of engineering program

A new Student Success Building will serve as the heart of the newly designed University of Louisville’s J.B. Speed School of Engineering. The 115,000-sf structure will greatly increase lab space and consolidate student services to one location.

Loyola University Center for Innovation and Collaboration student dining hall

University Buildings | Jul 11, 2024

3 considerations for designing healthy, adaptable student dining

Amanda Vigneau, IIDA, NCDIQ, LEED ID+C, Director, Shepley Bulfinch, shares three ways student dining facilities have evolved to match changes in student life.

People Discussing Robotic Prototype of Hand. Computer Science Education Concept

Laboratories | Jul 3, 2024

New science, old buildings: Renovating for efficiency, flexibility, and connection

What does the research space of the future look like? And can it be housed in older buildings—or does it require new construction?

University Buildings | Jun 28, 2024

The American University in Cairo launches a 270,000-sf expansion of its campus in New Cairo, Egypt

In New Cairo, Egypt, The American University in Cairo (AUC) has broken ground on a roughly 270,000-sf expansion of its campus. The project encompasses two new buildings intended to enhance the physical campus and support AUC’s mission to provide top-tier education and research.

University Buildings | Jun 18, 2024

UC Riverside’s new School of Medicine building supports team-based learning, showcases passive design strategies

The University of California, Riverside, School of Medicine has opened the 94,576-sf, five-floor Education Building II (EDII). Created by the design-build team of CO Architects and Hensel Phelps, the medical school’s new home supports team-based student learning, offers social spaces, and provides departmental offices for faculty and staff.

Amicus Therapeutics' new headquarters in Princeton, N.J.

Headquarters | Jun 5, 2024

Several new projects are upgrading historic Princeton, N.J.

Multifamily, cultural, and office additions are among the new construction.

Kaiser Borsari Hall will draw 100% of its electricity from a rooftop solar panel array. Photo courtesy Perkins&Will

Mass Timber | May 31, 2024

Mass timber a big part of Western Washington University’s net-zero ambitions

Western Washington University, in Bellingham, Wash., 90 miles from Seattle, is in the process of expanding its ABET-accredited programs for electrical engineering, computer engineering and science, and energy science. As part of that process, the university is building Kaiser Borsari Hall, the 54,000-sf new home for those academic disciplines that will include teaching labs, research labs, classrooms, collaborative spaces, and administrative offices.