Center for Engineering, Innovation and Sciences, Wentworth Institute of technology
Leers Weinzapfel Associates
Education
/
Completed
Intended to be a showcase for the Wentworth Institute of Technology, this building provides a home for the next evolution of collegiate study in multiple engineering disciplines. The facility contains space for interdisciplinary project-based programs including laboratories, High-End Manufacturing, Maker-Space and Public Assembly areas. It connects campus and city, and fosters exchange, collaboration, and experimentation among the departments.
As the Wentworth Institute of Technology’s program transitions from engineering technology to engineering and innovation, the new four-story, 75,000-square-foot Center for Engineering, Innovation, and Sciences comprises a dynamic environment for multi-disciplinary collaboration among students of biology, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, and biological engineering.
The Center is located on a midblock site at the heart of the Institute’s urban campus and plays a pivotal role in the campus plan. The building acts as a filter between two sides of the extended campus—the quad and the city—and strengthens the pedestrian pike that links them.
In contrast to the closed off feel of the campus, the ground floor of the building is a transparent showcase that contains Accelerate, an interdisciplinary and entrepreneurial project-based program, and a high-end additive manufacturing lab and a lobby that acts as a multi-purpose gathering and presentation space visible to all passers by. Stepped seating invites students and visitors to experience first-hand displays of Wentworth’s engineering capabilities. A light, perforated metal veil draped over the volumes gives the Center a distinctive identity in the surrounding context of masonry buildings. The upper floors contain laboratories of varied science disciplines, dispersed with faculty offices and spaces for student gathering and group study.
Intended to be a visible demonstration of sustainable design with a typically energy-intensive building type, the Center incorporates enhanced metering for the Institute’s use and student demonstration. The project exceeds the City of Boston’s requirements of sustainability with a highly-efficient thermal envelope, including sun shading on the east, south and west facades, and mechanical equipment designed for maximum efficiency including low-flow fume hoods. In this low lying Fenway neighborhood, resilience measures included raising the ground floor two feet above current grade and eliminating most mechanical and systems equipment from the basement. The building is designed to be LEED Silver Certifiable under LEEDv.4.
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The Center with Landscaped Entry Plaza and Walkable Pathways
Albert Vecerka
A Perforated “Veil” Gives the Compact Building a Distinct Identity
Albert Vecerka
The Center Completes the Central Campus Space Called "the Quad"
Albert Vecerka
Entry Plaza Along the Street Improves the City’s Streetscape
Albert Vecerka
Transparent Showcase of the Digital Fabrication and Additive Manufacturing lab
Albert Vecerka
Ground Floor Lobby Main Stairs
Albert Vecerka
The Commons Provides Campus-wide Space for Social Gathering and Events
Langer Hsu - Leers Weinzapfel Associates
Ground Floor Lobby with Adjacent Gathering and Conference Room
Albert Vecerka
Upper Floor Teaching Laboratories Accommodate Variety of Engineering Programs
Albert Vecerka
Upper Floor Teaching Laboratories Accommodate Variety of Engineering Programs
Albert Vecerka
Upper Level Social Space with Widened Corridors to Accommodate Gathering
Albert Vecerka
Informal Social and Study Spaces with Natural Daylight
Boston, MA
USA
Wentworth Institute of Technology
08/2018
724643712 m2
Leers Weinzapfel Associates
Principal-In-Charge: Josiah Stevenson Principal: Tom Chung Project Manager: Jeffrey Fishbein Project Architect: Ben Wilcox
Gilbane Building Company
OPM: STV Inc (New York, NY) Civil: VHB (Boston, MA) Structural: RSE Associates (Watertown, MA) Civil: Nitsch Engineering (Boston, MA) Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, Fire Protection, Security & Telecomm: BVH Integrated Services (Newton, MA) Lighting Design: Lam Partners (Cambridge, MA) Landscape: Ground Landscape (Somerville, MA) AV & Acoustics: Acentec (Cambridge, MA) Sustainability: Sustainability: Atelier ten (New Haven, CT) MEP/FP: Vanderweil Engineers (Boston, MA)
Albert Vecerka, Langer Hsu - Leers Weinzapfel Associates
Curriculum
Leers Weinzapfel Associates is a practice recognized for its exceptional quality of design for the public realm in urban and campus contexts. The group’s special strength is a “mission impossible” ability to meet extraordinarily difficult building challenges with uncommon design clarity, elegance, and refinement. We are committed to providing meaningful spaces for human interaction and to promoting social well-being. Our work is diverse, including technically demanding infrastructure installations, advanced learning and living environments for educational institutions, to civic buildings and community recreation centers. In 2007, the American Institute of Architects honored us with the Firm Award, the highest distinction the AIA bestows on an architecture practice, the first and only woman-owned firm to be so honored. ARCHITECT Magazine has included the firm on its list of Top 50 architecture firms in the country, for the past five years in a row.
