Awards: 2008 AIA North Carolina Merit Award
Clark Nexsen (formerly Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee) completed Northern Wake Phase 1A in 2006. This phase added Building A, an administrative building, Building B, which houses a library and classrooms, and the Regional Plant on the westernmost portion of the site. The unique qualities of this site provided the impetus to reconceptualize the quintessential college quadrangle; in this scheme, wetlands + meadows = courtyard quads. Buildings are formed as a perimeter filtering that separates vehicular and pedestrian realms on this primarily commuter campus. In future phases, buildings will be strung along the wetland fingers to the east, creating complex indoor-outdoor relationships. The material selection responds to both program and site conditions, while valuing longevity and durability. Concrete masonry units and glass-fiber reinforced concrete panels provide a strong base for the building and anchor it to the site’s undulating topography. The upper levels are comprised of aluminum and glass curtain wall, lending a sense of transparency to the buildings. An aluminum composite panel structure frames the curtain wall and entry. Sustainability was a key factor in the design of the building systems and choice of materials—structural steel framing, plumbing, mechanical, electrical and systems. Buildings A and B are LEED certified. The Northern Wake Campus is the first mult-building All-LEED community college campus in the nation.
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