The design team focused on several key guidelines for the new building when initiating the design process, such as regeneration of the site from a disused brownfield to a focal point for the Science Hill neighborhood and the need to thoroughly integrate it with the existing historic campus fabric to heavily influence form and scale. Building orientation was also optimized for maximum climate responsiveness. This resulted in features that would give back to the surrounding area, such as the terraces and courtyards that surround the building and the underground, centralized services node to its south.
The design team and university established clear and achievable environmental benchmarks and goals early in the process. It was decided that the best and most inherently sustainable building would incorporate visible and invisible, as well as passive and active, resource conservation measures. Of primary importance was the optimization of Kroon’s passive design capabilities to reduce loads on the active systems. The environmental consultant worked to determine which features would be best suited for the project. These were modeled in various computer programs to determine their effectiveness. Significant program analysis also occurred to identify redundancies and potential multifunctional features in the building.
