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Merit - SCUP/AIA-CAE Excellence in Architecture for a New Building

University of Oregon

The Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact at University of Oregon
University of Oregon - The Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact at University of Oregon
Jury Comments
“. . . beautiful building elevations and cladding solution . . . struck by how a single building successfully knits together multiple constraints and goals . . . beautiful job of creating a gateway to the campus and a great home for the program . . .”

Highlights

    • Site – 2.5 acres; Building – 157,000 gsf
    • Targeting LEED Gold certification.
    • The facility is organized as a ‘campus within a campus,’ creating an ecosystem of science and education.

Perspectives

The scope of the project involved the master planning of three new science buildings on the north side of Franklin Blvd., which physically separates the campus from the heart of the university. Confined between a wide vehicular arterial to the south and a protected wetland area to the north, the narrow site presented many challenges. By folding research floors around an elevated courtyard terrace, the design maximizes the limited site area and floorplates. A cable-suspended, glass-enclosed pedestrian bridge spanning the 6-lane boulevard connects the campus to the rest of the OU Science Complex. Dramatic double-height research spaces organized around the courtyard bring faculty and researchers closer together, create visual connections between research spaces, and drive natural light deep into the facility. Adorning the building’s southern-facing façades is an outer skin of folded glass panels that emulates water cascading over rock formations, and provides shade and glare control for the research spaces inside.

Project Team

Ennead Architects; Bora; Thornton Tomasetti Engineers; PLACE STUDIOS LLC; Jacobs; Hoffman Construction Company