Saint-Gobain’s expanded research development facility in Northborough, Massachusetts, has received LEED Gold certification from the US Green Building Council.  Sustainable project highlights include a heat recovery wheel and a pressurized raised-floor system that promotes equal distribution of tempered air in the building.

The facility, which is part of Saint-Gobain’s Massachusetts research campus, was completed in 2009. The project makes ample use of building products from Saint-Gobain and its CertainTeed and ADFORS subsidiaries, from glass and roofing to adhesives, wallboard, and insulation. A.J. Martini of Winchester, Massachusetts, was the project’s construction manager.

Shepley’s other recent ...[more]

A “topping out” ceremony on September 9 marked the symbolic installation of the last piece of structural steel for the Health and Biomedical Sciences Center at the University of Houston, which will feature the College of Optometry’s Vision Institute. In keeping with tradition, a small tree and a flag were attached to the steel beam, which bears the signatures of those involved in the project from the university and the design and construction team. Dr Earl Smith, dean of the UH College of Optometry spoke at ...[more]

Austin College president Marjorie Hass welcomed trustees, distinguished alumni, and other guests at a June 3 groundbreaking ceremony for the IDEA Center, the Sherman, Texas, college’s new science and technology complex.

Twelve years in the planning, the 103,000 s.f. Center will emphasize breaking down boundaries between disciplines, housing the departments of physics, chemistry, biology, environmental studies, math, and computer science in one facility. A centerpiece of the new academic building is a domed observatory, with a 24” telescope that will be among the best among the country’s liberal arts institutions.

The IDEA ...[more]

Catching the sun as it plays across the building’s surface, the undulating façade system for the University of Houston’s Health and Biomedical Sciences Center is an innovative design solution that responds to challenges in topography and program.

The risk of flooding on the low-lying site disallowed a basement, shifting all mechanical space to the top of the building. Likewise, the building program’s secure research spaces – typically located below grade – are also at the top level. Since both the mechanicals and research program require windowless spaces, the upper half of the building façade has few openings.

Recognizing the potentially overwhelming proportion of a solid façade, the design team used reflection ...[more]

The University of New Mexico’s Science & Mathematics Learning Center in Albuquerque was dedicated on March 4, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and building tour. University Regent Carolyn Abeita and President David Schmidly were joined by political and community leaders and senior administrators for the event.

“I’m very excited to see the vision of the Center come to life,” said Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Brenda Claiborne. “Not only does the center provide fully equipped teaching labs and classrooms aimed at engaging freshmen and sophomores in science and mathematics, but it ...[more]

The robotics lab at Johns Hopkins’ School of Computer Science and Engineering gets a shout-out in the January 17 issue of Time magazine. The article, “Where the jobs are,” discusses the sectors for job growth in the current economy. Johns Hopkins has established training programs to better match the skills of Baltimore residents with the requirement of the sophisticated bioengineering jobs now being created.

The photo in the article shows Professor Russ Taylor’s robotics lab at Hackermann Hall on Johns Hopkins Homewood campus. The building, with its open bays ...[more]

Think you know what goes on here? Look again. Step inside Hackerman Hall, home to Johns Hopkins’ Computational Sciences program and a remarkable intellectual crossroads.