Rendering © Leers Weinzapfel Associates
Rendering © Leers Weinzapfel Associates
Designed by Leers Weinzapfel Associates, Suffolk CM
Amherst, MA – Bringing together the previously dispersed departments of landscape architecture, architecture, and building technology programs, the new Design Building at the University of Massachusetts campus in Amherst will be a dynamic space of exchange, collaboration, and experiment, celebrating a shared commitment to sustainability.
The building is targeted for LEED Gold certification and is scheduled for completion in 2017, according to Suffolk Construction, the construction manager.
The Timber Design Building functions as a hinge between the formal 1975 Haigis Mall created by Kevin Roche, and the informal and intimate space of historic Stockbridge Way. The building serves as a pathway down the hill through the campus between the two precincts.
Construction under way
To create a center space of collaboration, a coiling and rising band of studios, faculty offices, and classrooms surrounds a skylit commons for gathering and presentations. Above the commons, studios and offices embrace a contemplative green-roof terrace, outdoor classroom, and experimental growing space for the landscape department.
The slope of the site creates a tall four-story façade on the downhill side facing the mall inviting the community into the building. On the uphill side, a three-story façade fits comfortably among the smaller historic buildings.
The building’s multidisciplinary program is organized around an interior courtyard of exposed timber and an exterior landscaped courtyard and outdoor classroom. With a glue-laminated wood frame, floor slabs of composite, exposed cross-laminate timber (CLT) plank, and cast-in- place concrete, the building will be a demonstration of leading-edge timber engineering, a concept informed by the school’s current research in building technology.
A high-performance metal-clad building envelope will be incorporated, together with a coursed ashlar base of local bluestone integrated with a landscape that makes extensive use of native plants and paving materials. The project is intended to demonstrate the latest sustainable design practices and serve as a model for the integration of campus landscape and architecture.
