With an expanding student body, the University of Nebraska College of Architecture was at a crossroads: needing to expand its facilities, it faced the prospect of either demolishing existing buildings or alternatively adding onto a complex of three buildings dating back to the 19th Century. Architecture Hall was built in 1891, the Law College in 1921, and the “Link” Building was completed in 1985 providing the historic complex with elevators, fire stairs, and a lobby. Despite its large footprint, the “Link” achieved little more; hence, the newly proposed addition strategically adopts this under-utilized infrastructure of the Link to preserve the integrity of this historic complex while offering maximum flexibility for added studio space, critique spaces, and the restoration of a historic auditorium. In turn, the new addition finally provides a new front door and façade as the symbol of the design hub as a whole.
With a strict schedule, the project was to be delivered --designed and built -- in less than 24 months, and thus the process was structured around an accelerated turn-around of scope packages, with no means to adopt LEED certification. Despite that, and maybe because of it, the institution was committed to making a few critical decisions that would put the project on the sustainable spectrum. Our proposal was to tap into the pre-fabrication mass timber industry to advance a discussion about how the building might serve as a pedagogical tool for its audience.
Composed almost entirely of wood, its columns and beams are fabricated from LVL members, and the floor slabs of cross-laminated timber. Fabricated off-site and installed in less than one month, a single level was erected per week. By extension, we eliminated redundant trades as a way of opportunistically exposing raw materials, getting better daylighting, and revealing the organs of the building as a teaching tool. Adopting fiber-reinforced polymer (Kalwall) for the north façade, we were able to use a single source for the installation of the entire building, minimizing glazed openings for key views, while guaranteeing maximum indirect light for the studio spaces. The project was completed at $575 per square foot.
Located at the western edge of the UNL campus, the College of Architecture plays a pivotal role in informing three transformations of the site. First, being part of the weekly promenade between the main parking lots and the football stadium, the school establishes an important threshold into the campus, and equally so, an outpost for gameday tail-gating events. Second, as a gateway into campus, the north allée links the east-west axis directly to the historic Sheldon Museum, an iconic cultural hub designed by Philip Johnson. The raked fenestration of the north façade deliberately orients framed views towards these two ‘events’. Finally, the north façade also serves as the main entry to the College of Architecture, synthesizing the complex into one cohesive assemblage. Brought together around an outdoor teaching space - the intersection of the four buildings, the courtyard anchors the center of the complex.