![]() “The building has really good bones,” says Hinchcliffe. ![]() ![]() It will also be equipped with new, flexible classrooms for teaching across all disciplines. Payette, which specializes in buildings for health care, health sciences and academic sciences, worked with faculty and staff of the college’s STEM Facilities Planning Committee to develop a plan to guide the planning and construction of Bonney and the modernization of Dana and Carnegie.ĭana, built in 1965, will be repurposed to focus on science teaching for students new to STEM fields. “We worked to create a design that was both rigorously functional but also very progressive,” says Michael Hinchcliffe, a principal with Boston architecture firm Payette. When lit at night, the feature creates a “beacon” for the campus. Dubbed the Beacon, it overlooks the campus’s “Historic Quad,” so named because the large grassy area is the oldest part of the campus. For example, Bonney uses custom bricks fabricated by Morin Brick in Auburn - the same brickyard used by the college for over 150 years - but with a subtle contemporary pattern.Īt the northwest corner of the building, a three-story wall of glazing was installed to be an eye-catching feature. The project took cues from and reinterpreted elements of existing structures. The building is sited and designed to catch the eye from key campus perspectives and to harmonize traditional Bates aesthetics with contemporary appeal. A grand staircase and single-corridor floor plan keep occupants in a common traffic stream. A two-story lounge offers a variety of study spaces. On the first floor, near the main entrance, is a “living room” - a casual space for all. The building is designed to make it easy for students to go from studying to seeking out a faculty member who’s nearby, as opposed to having to find faculty in another building.Īlthough having the word “science” in its name, Bonney’s interior represents a melding of casual and formal academic spaces intended to nurture community both within and beyond Bates’ science programs. Spaces are set up to allow biologists, chemists and neuroscientists to interact easily, with additional space dedicated for research and for students to build cohorts. ![]() The three-story structure is designed to offer versatile teaching and research spaces, advanced instrumentation rooms and areas designed to promote study and interaction. The idea of “science on display” sums up a building design informed by modern-day approaches to education and research. “Now we have a building that’s cutting-edge for the way we teach science.” “Bates has always been a very academically serious place,” says Spencer. When students return for the fall semester, the center will be fully operational. Visible in the background is Carnegie Science Hall, a century-old building that will be updated under a reconfiguration of Bates science facilities.Īt Bonney, move-in is scheduled to start this summer. We want students to be able to walk in and say, ‘What is that? I want to do that.’”īates College President Clayton Spencer stands in one of the signature features of the Bonney Science Center, a two-story, glass-walled lounge called the Beacon, which overlooks Campus Avenue and the quad. “We don’t want science to be cloistered behind some dark wall. “It’s science on display,” says Geoffrey Swift, Bates’s vice president for finance and administration. “The new building is transformational in that it’s set up in a way to beautifully integrate teaching and research,” says Clayton Spencer, president of the liberal arts institution, which has been a keystone in Lewiston since 1855.īonney’s design approach - with versatile spaces that promote interaction and teamwork - reflects a 21st-century pedagogy that leaves behind the conventional lecture-followed-by-lab model and instead encourages hands-on student engagement, innovation, inclusivity and transparency. As Bates College seniors were preparing for commencement in late May, trees and other final landscaping touches were being installed at the campus’s new Bonney Science Center - the centerpiece of a $75 million project to upgrade science teaching and research facilities, with a focus on cross-disciplinary collaboration and flexibility.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |