flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Perkins+Will designs new home for Gateway Community College

Perkins+Will designs new home for Gateway Community College

Largest one-time funded Connecticut state project and first designed to be LEED Gold.


By Posted by Tim Gregorski, Senior Editor | July 11, 2012
Perkins+Wills design is planned around a multi-story atrium that connects the s
Perkins+Wills design is planned around a multi-story atrium that connects the second, third and fourth levels of the building,

Perkins+Will has designed the new 367,000-sf home for Gateway Community College, the leading community college in Connecticut. Spanning two city blocks in downtown New Haven, the $198-million project will create a meaningful identity for the College and enhance the surrounding urban neighborhood.

The state’s first public building designed to be gold-certified in LEED and the largest one-time funded state development in Connecticut history, this entirely new campus relocates Gateway Community College to downtown New Haven and consolidates the school’s two existing campuses to serve more than 11,000 students.

Opening to students on September 4, 2012, the facility is an example of how thoughtful architecture can engage the city and contribute to significant urban revitalization.

Design highlights of the Gateway building are a light-filled multi-story atrium, a state-of-the-art Library and Learning Commons and spacious entry lobbies that connect the college to the city. The building also features classrooms for Gateway’s humanities, business, engineering, nursing/allied health, math/science and culinary arts programs.

Other features include a Community Center that will serve as a large public meeting space for lectures, events and group activities with a capacity for more than 300 people, faculty offices, student service areas and a 600-car parking garage. Perkins+Will located the more public elements of Gateway’s program at street level, with the cafeteria, bookstore, culinary arts program and art exhibition space all visible through storefront-style windows.

Perkins+Will’s design is planned around a multi-story atrium that connects the second, third and fourth levels of the building, and bridges over George Street to link the north and south buildings. The atrium serves as an interior, three-dimensional “street” that connects the main entry to the fourth floor, bringing daylight into the middle of the building and providing clear, intuitive access to all of the major spaces. Configured as a series of terraces linked by stairs and stadium-style seating, the atrium will become the primary gathering space for students and a link between academic spaces and faculty offices. Along the north side is a Learning Wall, a four-story, articulated surface that features inspirational messaging and is patterned with windows that bring natural light into interior classrooms. The bridge features a LED art installation by the art collective Electroland, with portraits that showcase the personalities that make the College unique.

The First Niagara Library and Learning Center anchors the southern end of the building and is defined by a curving, multi-story glass curtain wall that creates a dramatic expression when illuminated at night. The two-story space links a quiet lower floor, comprised of reading spaces and stacks for half of the library’s 50,000 books, with a more active upper level with spaces and seating for group-based learning. It will also feature the latest in interactive computer technology to help students gather information, analyze data and build knowledge.

Perkins+Will’s design for Gateway also features one main lobby and two supporting lobbies, which are all double-height with floor-to-ceiling windows, durable terrazzo floors, wood paneling and specialty lighting fixtures. The main lobby provides clear access from the Community Center and garage, as well as access to the elevators, escalator and stairs. Located at the intersection of Church and George Streets, the main lobby marks the southern corner of New Haven’s eighth square, which is part of the city’s historic “Nine Squares” layout and one of the earliest and most influential urban plans in America. +

Related Stories

| Jan 13, 2015

Steven Holl unveils design for $450 million redevelopment of Houston's Museum of Fine Arts

Holl designed the campus’ north side to be a pedestrian-centered cultural hub on a lively landscape with ample underground parking. 

| Jan 12, 2015

23 projects win AIA's highest architecture award

Bjarke Ingels' Danish Maritime Museum and William Rawn's Cambridge Public Library are among the winning projects.

| Jan 9, 2015

Santiago Calatrava talks with BBC about St. Nicholas Church on Ground Zero

Calatrava reveals that he wanted to retain the “tiny home” feel of the original church building that was destroyed with the twin towers on 9/11.

| Jan 9, 2015

Nonresidential construction hiring surges in December 2014

The U.S. construction industry added 48,000 jobs in December, including 22,800 jobs in nonresidential construction, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics preliminary estimate released Jan. 9. 

| Jan 9, 2015

10 surprising lessons Perkins+Will has learned about workplace projects

P+W's Janice Barnes shares some of most unexpected lessons from her firm's work on office design projects, including the importance of post-occupancy evaluations and having a cohesive transition strategy for workers.

| Jan 9, 2015

Technology and media tenants, not financial companies, fill up One World Trade Center

The financial sector has almost no presence in the new tower, with creative and media companies, such as magazine publisher Conde Nast, dominating the vast majority of leased space.

| Jan 8, 2015

Microsoft shutters classic clipart gallery: Reaction from a graphic designer

Microsoft shut down its tried-and-true clipart gallery, ridding the world not only of a trope of graphic design, but a nostalgic piece of digital design history, writes HDR's Dylan Coonrad.

| Jan 8, 2015

The future of alternative work spaces: open-access markets, co-working, and in-between spaces

During the past five years, people have begun to actively seek out third places not just to get a day’s work done, but to develop businesses of a new kind and establish themselves as part of a real-time conversation of diverse entrepreneurs, writes Gensler's Shawn Gehle.

Smart Buildings | Jan 7, 2015

NIBS report: Small commercial buildings offer huge energy efficiency retrofit opportunities

The report identifies several barriers to investment in such retrofits, such as the costs and complexity associated with relatively small loan sizes, and issues many small-building owners have in understanding and trusting predicted retrofit outcomes.

| Jan 7, 2015

University of Chicago releases proposed sites for Obama library bid

There are two proposed sites for the plan, both owned by the Chicago Park District in Chicago’s South Side, near the university’s campus in Hyde Park, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category


Warehouses

California bill would limit where distribution centers can be built

A bill that passed the California legislature would limit where distribution centers can be located and impose other rules aimed at reducing air pollution and traffic. Assembly Bill 98 would tighten building standards for new warehouses and ban heavy diesel truck traffic next to sensitive sites including homes, schools, parks and nursing homes.



halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021