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Smith-Miller + Hawkinson Architects was selected to design the Energy Advancement and Innovation Center (EAIC) project after working with The Ohio State University to develop a compelling Visionary Project Study defining vision and scope for the new Center.
The design team was tasked with developing a design concept aligning with the University’s Ambition Statement for the Center. “The Energy Advancement and Innovation Center will foster research and innovation collaborations to create and launch new solutions that accelerate a global energy transition to a zero-carbon economy. The Center will serve as a living laboratory to develop, demonstrate and deploy new innovations to improve the well-being of our communities.”
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The Innovation Center massing and site design are driven by solar setbacks, ensuring adjacent buildings cast no shadow on the EAIC solar canopy. The canopy provides afternoon shade to the building’s shared public space below, while maximizing solar energy collection. Variation in solar panel layout accommodates ventilation and code required access, creating a tartan grid pattern allowing for variation in light and shadow beneath the canopy and on the building facade. With a publicly accessible first floor, the EAIC serves as a hub providing meeting, food service and shared community space for Ohio State’s Carmenton Innovation Campus.
The design team was tasked with developing a building design marking the entrance to the new Innovation Campus and telegraphing the University’s commitment to innovative research initiatives. The iconic cantilevered solar canopy at the EAIC doubles the building’s solar footprint to reduce the building’s operational carbon footprint. The first of its kind DC-microgrid collects solar energy from the roof-mounted photovoltaic canopy in its native Direct Current (DC) and routes it to efficiently power DC building loads without the need for DC to Alternating Current (AC) conversion. The DC-microgrid directly powers building lighting and mechanical motors, avoiding energy loss typically seen in Solar Inverters during the DC to AC conversion process.
The Energy Advancement and Innovation Center (EAIC) is an experimental hub for energy research at The Ohio State University, paving the way to a carbon-free future. The facility supports collaborative research and development of smart energy systems, renewable energy and green mobility. With an expansive solar canopy and translucent polycarbonate facade, the building is designed for high-performance and energy efficiency. A building scale DC-microgrid enables the Innovation Center to act as a living laboratory, continually fed by the research and development occurring within. The DC-microgrid collects solar energy in its native direct current (DC) and routes it to efficiently supply building loads including lighting and mechanical motors, avoiding conversion loss. The photovoltaic array with 704 solar panels will supply 33% of the annual electricity needed to operate the building. The facade system includes interlocking cellular polycarbonate panels spanning 14M, a butt-glazed curtain wall system and custom precast concrete panels. The polycarbonate panel system provides diffuse daylighting and performs well thermally. The custom precast panel texture on the facade was developed with 4 precast panel profiles laid out in their original orientation and also mirrored to complete the overall surface design. The resulting precast concrete surface undulates in varying intensity as it wraps around the building.
The EAIC’s solar canopy design and DC-microgrid embody a spirit of innovation. The building serves as a catalyst for collaboration between university researchers and industry partners, fostering entrepreneurship. Event space and ground floor café entice researchers out of their labs, promoting interaction and exchange of ideas. A successful right-sizing effort maintained key aspects of the original design intent while meeting key University goals. – Brendan Flaherty, OSU Project Manager
Smith-Miller+Hawkinson (SM+H) Architects founded by Laurie Hawkinson and Henry Smith-Miller in 1978, is a multi-disciplinary architecture and design firm interested in the role(s) that Architecture can play in a Nation’s Culture, creating structures that project an environmentally responsible and optimistic future.
Across the United States and abroad, Smith-Miller + Hawkinson has designed and built projects including government facilities, workplaces, transportation terminals, academic buildings, research centers, technology innovation hubs, cultural facilities, museums, performing arts centers and parks.
The firm has received numerous awards including the American Academy of Arts and Letters Arnold W. Brunner Prize in Architecture, the NYCAIA Chapter Medal of Honor, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, and a Special Recognition for Excellence in Design from the New York City Art Commission.
