· 24 interactive tiered classrooms· 18 collaborative team rooms· 300 seat Auditorium· Graduate computer lab· Mock trading room· Business Commons· Café· Executive Dining Room· Career Services· Faculty and Administration offices
167,000 SF The
E.J. Ourso College of Business at Louisiana State University is a glass and
steel ‘academical village’ for business education. The courtyard site plan and
building forms are contextual— recalling the sloped roof pavilions and arcaded
courtyards of the adjacent historic campus. To illustrate a forward looking
aesthetic that embodies the mission of the school, which is to generate
business innovation in Louisiana and the Gulf region, these traditional
architectural forms are constructed of contemporary materials and details. The
pavilions are clad in ceramic coated translucent mirror glass and the rotunda
is clad in a bronze solar screen resulting in a composition of forms that are
ephemeral apparitions of the original campus. This composition reflects the
strong heritage of the campus while looking to the promises of the future.
The
design team researched glass technologies and developed a cream colored ceramic
fritted insulating glass unit with mirror glass back panel which creates a
moiré pattern over the surface of the pavilions resulting in a three
dimensional appearance that is similar in color and modeling to its stucco-clad
neighbors. The south and west sides of the rotunda are surrounded by a custom
bronze screen that utilizes an arch motif which recalls the university’s
treasured campus arcades. The screen is designed to shield the glass rotunda
from harsh solar gain.
At
the ground level, the pavilions, which house the classrooms are interconnected
by an arcade and surround the landscaped courtyard. Internally, a multi-story
business commons, located in the rotunda, opens up visually and physically to
the courtyard and is the iconic centerpiece for the business school campus.
Images
© Brad Feinknopf