Like many university buildings, the concept of student and faculty collaboration is stressed at the University of Calgary. For its new Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning, Toronto-based architect Diamond Schmitt Architects wanted to make it as easy as possible to achieve that.
The “spine” of the building, a large light-filled space featuring two cantilever projections, can be reconfigured on a day-to-day basis. By using mobile technology and popping out some hidden seats, students and faculty can make the spine a 400-seat theater, a flat-floor gathering spot, a teaching lab, or a community meeting area—whatever is needed.
“The spine is simple in its clarity, but certainly not in its design,” Diamond Schmitt Principal and Project Architect, Matthew Lella, said in a statement. “Vierendeel trusses don’t have diagonal beams, which allows for enhanced visibility through clerestory glass.”
The rest of the building plays off the spine, with an amphitheatre, “hanging pods” (six- to eight-person study rooms), learning studios, and outdoor social areas attached to the space.
The Taylor Institute opened on April 18. Diamond Schmitt is the design architect and Gibbs Gage is the architect of record.
Related Stories
| Mar 19, 2012
HKS Selected for Baylor Medical Center at Waxahachie
Baylor Medical Center at Waxahachiewill incorporate advanced technology including telemedicine, digital imaging, remote patient monitoring, electronic medical records and computer patient records.
| Mar 14, 2012
Tsoi/Kobus and Centerbrook to design Jackson Laboratory facility in Farmington, Conn.
Building will house research into personalized, gene-based cancer screening and treatment.
| Mar 6, 2012
EwingCole completes first design-build project for the USMA
The second phase of the project, which includes the academic buildings and the lacrosse and football fields, was completed in January 2012.
| Mar 6, 2012
Joliet Junior College achieves LEED Gold
With construction managed by Gilbane Building Company, Joliet Junior College’s Facility Services Building combines high-performance technologies with sustainable materials to meet aggressive energy efficiency goals.
| Mar 1, 2012
Cornell shortlists six architectural firms for first building on tech campus
Each of the firms will be asked to assemble a team of consultants and prepare for an interview to discuss their team’s capabilities to successfully design the university’s project.
| Mar 1, 2012
Bomel completes design-build parking complex at U.C. San Diego
The $24-million facility, which fits into a canyon setting on the university’s East Campus, includes 1,200 stalls in two adjoining garages and a soccer field on a top level.
| Feb 28, 2012
Salem State University Library & Learning Commons topped off
When it opens to students in the fall of 2013, the $60 million facility will offer new archival space; circulation and reference areas; collections; reading spaces; study rooms; instruction labs and a Dean’s suite.
| Feb 28, 2012
Griffin Electric completes Medical University of South Carolina project
The 210,000-sf complex is comprised of two buildings, and houses research, teaching and office areas, plus conference spaces for the University.
| Feb 14, 2012
Angelo State University opens doors to new recreation center expansion
Designed by SmithGroup, the JJR_Center for Human Performance offers enhanced fitness options, dynamic gathering space.
| Feb 6, 2012
Siemens gifts Worcester Polytechnic Institute $100,000 for fire protection lab renovation
Siemens support is earmarked for the school’s Fire Protection Engineering Lab, a facility that has been forwarding engineering and other advanced degrees, graduating fire protection engineers since 1979.