Creating the New Science Center Has Begun!
This aerial view shows the new Science Center situated among the existing campus buildings. Note the connection to the Reiss Science Building, which will create a combined Science Complex supporting close collaboration among research faculty (Larger version in new window).
This image of the new Science Center depicts the view from the Leavey Center, looking south toward Village C and Harbin Hall (Larger version in new window).
This view depicts the new Science Center in relation to the Bunn Intercultural Center and Tondorf Drive. The three-story glass walkway is shown extending over Tondorf Drive and connecting the new Science Center to the Reiss Science Building (not shown in the picture). The Leavey clock tower is shown in the background (Larger version in new window).
This view depicts the new Science Center in relation to the Leavey Center. The new tiered quadrangle leading up to the Leavey Center sits between the Science Center and the new McDonough School of Business (not pictured, sitting to the left). A new loading dock and two floors of classrooms and lab space are housed behind the stone and glass shown in the center of the photo (Larger version in new window).
This aerial view depicts the new Science Center in relation to other nearby buildings (Larger version in new window).
This floorplan depicts a typical layout of research space in the new Science Center. Faculty offices will be located in proximity to research lab space. Research labs will be supported by substantial supply and preparation areas. Note the flexible design of the research lab space which will accommodate changing faculty needs (Larger version in new window).
Planning for the new Science Center and the reinvention of the Reiss Science Building is rapidly progressing.
More than designing a new building, the comprehensive planning process includes faculty expansion and curriculum growth. All of these efforts are focused on expanding the range of both science teaching and science research at Georgetown College. “For the twenty-first century,” says Jane McAuliffe, Dean of Georgetown College, “a functional understanding of scientific and quantitative reasoning will be an indispensable part of the education of all our Georgetown students. As a globally connected research University, our science faculty will contribute to pushing forward the frontiers of scientific discovery and advancement.”
A team of faculty and administrators has worked for the past year to redefine the role of the sciences on campus and to specify space needs required to support them. The resulting report, the Science Facilities Master Plan, will guide both the design of the building and the growth of faculty and curriculum.
“Georgetown University is not just building a new Science Center but rather, a new science community,” says Dr. Mak Paranjape, Associate Professor of Physics and a member of the Science Center Planning Committee. “The planning of the new Science Center has been done with valuable input from the science faculty, who were members of the planning committee from the onset. The center will house ‘the sciences’ with seamless transitions between physics, chemistry, and biology to foster more interdisciplinary research initiatives.”
A building design that facilitates collaboration between researchers is a primary goal for the faculty. “Many of the most interesting and challenging scientific problems can only be solved by interdisciplinary teams that involve the expertise of multiple labs,” says Dr. Jeff Urbach, Professor and Chair of Physics and the Convenor of the Science Chairs in the College. “To be first rate, we must be involved in interdisciplinary research and education so that our students are trained to think creatively beyond disciplinary boundaries. There's already a lot of this kind of work already going on at Georgetown, but it's hampered by all of the concrete walls that separate us. The new building is designed to facilitate collaborations and, most importantly, to foster interaction among researchers from different groups, which will undoubtedly lead to exciting new projects in completely unanticipated directions.”
This goal of integration will be reflected into the building’s design. According to Director of Facilities Planning Alice Boyer Wiewel, Georgetown plans to construct a 150,000 gross square foot Science Center. “This facility will allow multiple departments to be housed in the same building, enabling scientists to tackle big problems with great talent working side by side. In the new facility, students will study in high-tech, modular laboratories. There will be spaces flooded with natural light. The design concepts include inviting, comfortable common spaces where students and faculty will naturally congregate.”
Dean of the Graduate School and Associate Provost for Research Tim Barbari notes that this design will facilitate collaboration leading to new directions for research and improved efficiency of sharing critical resources. “The new building’s space arrangements will foster relationships which lead to collaboration. Our map—for matching talent and equipment to space—ensures that faculty and students from complementary disciplines will cross paths.”
“The integration of the sciences into Georgetown’s entire educational mission is also of critical importance as we face the challenges of educating students for the new century,” continues Dean Barbari. “ An investigation of science programs at peer and aspirant institutions, along with a program verification process at Georgetown University, suggests a significant shortfall of science facilities at present. The need for expanding both science facilities and curriculum are the foremost goals of the Science Facilities Master Plan.”
Associate Provost Marjory Blumenthal is a member of the Steering Committee for the Science Center planning and describes the progress of designing the building. “We are at the 90 percent phase for concept design. This means we’ve determined the general shape of the building, its location on campus, the general layout of the floor plans, and the way different elements relate to each other. We are planning on as much flexibility as we can so the floor plans can accommodate future growth and different space and resource needs.”
Further, the University decided to design the building to be a “sustainable building” that can achieve LEED silver certification. Originally, the planning committee hoped that the new building would just achieve basic LEED certification. Certification as a sustainable building requires design and material considerations at every level of the building, from internal infrastructure and building skin, to landscaping.
The planning process has been a complex effort involving Georgetown College faculty, the Office of the Provost, and the senior leadership of University Facilities. Part of the planning process included site visits to other campuses to see their successful science projects. Last summer, the planning group began working with the architectural team at Payette Associates, led by Robert Schaeffer, to “program” the building by making specific decisions about the buildings internal spaces and their functions.
The University hopes to begin construction in 2008 with the aim of occupancy for fall 2010. Once the new building is completed, the faculty researchers currently in Reiss would move to the new space, emptying floors three to seven of Reiss and making renovation of those spaces possible. The reinvention of Reiss will be a full-scale overhaul of the building, including replacement of the major power, plumbing, and ventilation systems and renovating the interior spaces.
At some point in the process, the new building will be connected by a skybridge to the reinvented Reiss, creating a combined Science complex. “When that is accomplished, says Dean McAuliffe, “the dreams of a generation of Georgetown College faculty will be realized.”
For more information, see the Blue & Gray article about the new Science complex.