Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine is an internationally recognized leader in veterinary education, research, diagnostics, and animal care. The design seeks to transform the current complex—a disconnected collection of individual buildings—into a more unified campus that clearly communicates the innovative teaching and research at the College. The new expansion and reconfiguration adds new teaching spaces, connects the hospital to academic spaces, and creates public spaces for programmed and spontaneous activities.
Located at the eastern terminus of Tower Road, the new expansion will provide an updated anchor to Cornell’s east-west campus axis. Here, a redesigned entry plaza and re-clad Veterinary Research Tower welcomes students, faculty, and visitors and opens into a light-filled gallery. Selective demolition creates opportunities to reconnect existing laboratories and insert a series of classroom spaces centered around this wood-lined, two-and-a-half story gallery space. The gallery, a public commons, clarifies circulation and provides connections to a new shared courtyard, research spaces, and the medical center.
The design fulfills the programmatic requirements of facility expansion through strategic interior renovations and bold new additions, and also creates a coherent internal campus that is a compelling expression of the vitality and critical relevance of veterinary medicine.