The William H. Neukom Building fulfills the space needs of a growing faculty, reinforces the Law School community by fostering the collaboration essential to a rich educational experience and strengthens the visual identity of the Law School campus. The design of the building reflects an institutional shift towards an interdisciplinary and collaborative academic experience that integrates students and faculty. A monumental rotunda located at the intersection of two significant circulation paths serves as a prominent entry point to the new academic building and defines the new center of the law school. A shaded garden terrace, elevated above the ground floor is the heart of the building. Within the building, bridges between office suites and communal spaces foster a larger sense of community between faculty and students and offer expansive views of the landscape beyond. Interconnected, communal spaces transform the academic setting into a dynamic space that allows for informal student-faculty interactions. Oriented outward to the campus, double-height meeting spaces at the corners of the building achieve vertical interpenetration of interior spaces, further unifying the academic community. Stone and corrugated concrete – exterior building materials that are extended to the interior – figuratively reinforce the Law School’s strategic connection with the greater University community. Many measures have been employed to reduce the building’s carbon footprint, maximize energy effectiveness, reduce water consumption and create a healthy working environment. The design draws from traditional sustainable approaches, including thick masonry walls for passive solar heating and cooling, overhangs and deeply recessed windows to reduce solar heat gain while maximizing daylight and operable windows for natural ventilation as well as contemporary energy efficiency, building envelope design and water management techniques to create a building is emblematic of the campus commitment to sustainability.
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