Leers Weinzapfel Associates - Wentworth Institute of Technology Center for Engineering, Innovation and Sciences
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Wentworth Institute of Technology Center for Engineering, Innovation and Sciences

Leers Weinzapfel Associates

Education  /  Completed
Leers Weinzapfel Associates
The Center for Engineering, Innovation, and Sciences at Wentworth Institute of Technology, is a multi-disciplinary facility housing laboratories and offices for Biology, Bio-Engineering, Civil Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. The first floor, transparent to the street and the campus central courtyard, contains space for the Accelerate interdisciplinary project-based programs and includes space for high-end manufacturing, maker-space and public assembly areas. It connects campus and city, and fosters exchange, collaboration, and experimentation.

The project is designed to meet the next evolution in collegiate learning by providing modern academic space for Wentworth’s existing student body and to enhance the campus experience in a new “state-of-the-art” building. Coined a “living-learning laboratory”, the building will include updated lab spaces in efforts to foster the hands-on learning approach of the Institute. In addition, the building will have faculty offices in each of the academic departments it serves, and staff offices, including the Office of the Provost. The Accelerate space, Wentworth’s Center for Innovation + Entrepreneurship, maker space, and an office suite that is shared with the EPIC Experiential Learning programs, is located on the ground floor and is visible to students walking by. The multi-story atrium is designed to flexibly accommodate various types of events including seminars, workshops, and speaking engagements.


At four stories in height with approximately 75,000 gross square feet, the building accommodates Wentworth’s transition from providing engineering technology programs to engineering and innovation programs, such as a new bioengineering program. This transition requires new and different teaching and learning spaces and configurations that will promote more collaboration and interdisciplinary approaches to the curriculum.

The building’s compelling façade features large scale glass and aluminum curtainwall system with zinc panels. As no new parking is included, the facility will encourage alternative transportation with a 100-space covered bike parking structure.

The building is intended to be a visible demonstration of sustainable design and incorporates enhanced metering for both University use and student demonstration. The building will exceed the City of Boston’s requirements of sustainability with a highly-efficient thermal envelope, and mechanical equipment designed for maximum efficiency including low-flow fume hoods. The building is designed to be LEED Silver Certifiable under LEED v.4.

Credits

 Boston, Massachusetts
 United States
 Wentworth Institute of Technology
 01/2019
 6967 mq
 Andrea Leers, Josiah Stevenson, Tom Chung
 Jeffrey Fishbein, Ben Wilcox, Matt Vocatura
 Gilbane
 Albert Vecerka / Esto

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.

https://www.lwa-architects.com


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