Oklahoma’s Francis Tuttle Technology Center, which provides career-specific training to adults and high school students, has completed its Francis Tuttle Danforth Campus—a two-story, 155,000-sf academic building. The project aims to fill the growing community’s rising demand for affordable education and training.
Designed by Bockus Payne, the project provides space for core classes and student support areas. Classes at Francis Tuttle Danforth Campus will cover subjects such as entrepreneurship, engineering, biosciences and medicine, computer science, pre-nursing, cosmetology, automotive service technology, and interactive media. The building also houses a business incubator, seminar and training spaces for conferences, continuing education, and corporate training.
The exterior materials include a mix of wood, concrete, and stone that flow into the building’s interior. Set back from the main road, the split-level building is located on a site that drops 55 feet between the northwest and southwest corners. This reduces the impact of the building’s height on the surrounding residential neighborhoods. Oklahoma-centered landscaping complements the building design.
Students and visitors enter the building under a glass canopy. A glass-railed bridge, overlooking the light-filled rotunda, offers views of the front landscape and ponds. The rotunda provides a space to work, connect, and enjoy the abundant natural light. It also encourages instructors to come out of their classrooms and use the grand stair for student seating and learning. The corridors’ glass exterior walls filter light into the classrooms and labs.
With its new building, Francis Tuttle wants to facilitate the design thinking process, which centers empathy, expansive thinking, and experimentation. To achieve this, the highly flexible design includes classrooms with several furniture layouts, fostering small group collaboration and individual learning.
Glass entries in all classrooms and labs reveal the activities inside. Classrooms are open to corresponding labs, so concepts can be quickly demonstrated. And nooks in the corridor provide space for small group discussion.
On the Building Team:
Owner: Francis Tuttle Technology Center
Design architect: Bockus Payne
Architect of record: Bockus Payne
MEP engineer: Allen Consulting
Structural engineer: KFC Engineering
General contractor/construction manager: T. Scott Construction
Related Stories
| Nov 8, 2013
Walkable solar pavement debuts at George Washington University
George Washington University worked with supplier Onyx Solar to design and install 100 sf of walkable solar pavement at its Virginia Science and Technology Campus in Ashburn, Va.
| Nov 7, 2013
Fitness center design: What do higher-ed students want?
Campus fitness centers are taking their place alongside student centers, science centers, and libraries as hallmark components of a student-life experience. Here are some tips for identifying the ideal design features for your next higher-ed fitness center project.
| Nov 5, 2013
Net-zero movement gaining traction in U.S. schools market
As more net-zero energy schools come online, school officials are asking: Is NZE a more logical approach for school districts than holistic green buildings?
| Nov 5, 2013
Oakland University’s Human Health Building first LEED Platinum university building in Michigan [slideshow]
Built on the former site of a parking lot and an untended natural wetland, the 160,260-sf, five-story, terra cotta-clad building features some of the industry’s most innovative, energy-efficient building systems and advanced sustainable design features.
| Oct 31, 2013
74 years later, Frank Lloyd Wright structure built at Florida Southern College
The Lakeland, Fla., college adds to its collection of FLW buildings with the completion of the Usonian house, designed by the famed architect in 1939, but never built—until now.
| Oct 30, 2013
11 hot BIM/VDC topics for 2013
If you like to geek out on building information modeling and virtual design and construction, you should enjoy this overview of the top BIM/VDC topics.
| Oct 28, 2013
Urban growth doesn’t have to destroy nature—it can work with it
Our collective desire to live in cities has never been stronger. According to the World Health Organization, 60% of the world’s population will live in a city by 2030. As urban populations swell, what people demand from their cities is evolving.
| Oct 18, 2013
Meet the winners of BD+C's $5,000 Vision U40 Competition
Fifteen teams competed last week in the first annual Vision U40 Competition at BD+C's Under 40 Leadership Summit in San Francisco. Here are the five winning teams, including the $3,000 grand prize honorees.
| Oct 18, 2013
Researchers discover tension-fusing properties of metal
When a group of MIT researchers recently discovered that stress can cause metal alloy to fuse rather than break apart, they assumed it must be a mistake. It wasn't. The surprising finding could lead to self-healing materials that repair early damage before it has a chance to spread.
| Oct 15, 2013
15 great ideas from the Under 40 Leadership Summit – Vote for your favorite!
Sixty-five up-and-coming AEC stars presented their big ideas for solving pressing social, economic, technical, and cultural problems related to the built environment. Which one is your favorite?