Buildings
Behnisch Designing First Building at Harvard Expansion
(archrecord.construction.com - 03/06/2006)
By Ted
Bowen
In February Harvard University tapped
Stuttgart-based Behnisch & Partner to design a 500,000-square-foot
science complex and stem cell research facility. The project
will be the first new construction in the university's expansion
in the Allston section of Boston. Allston is directly across
the Charles River to the southwest of Harvard's main campus.
An eclectic range of styles will be
represented in the new building, according to Chris Gordon,
chief operating officer of the campus expansion project. According
to Behnisch partner Stefan Behnisch, the initial building
plan calls for several buildings of a scale in keeping with
the existing Allston neighborhood. The layout of the science
complex will follow the example of Harvard Yard, with its
open corners and varied groupings. The materials will reflect
Harvard's eclectic campus, which in addition to its signature
red brick, runs the gamut from wood and concrete to glass
and steel, he says.
The design will also meet or exceed
Harvard's campus-wide sustainability standards, which roughly
correspond to the silver level of the US Green Building Council's
LEED rating scheme. Behnisch's Genzyme Corp. headquarters
in Cambridge, completed in 2003, received a LEED platinum
rating.
Harvard announced its expansion plans
in 2004. The university owns roughly 350 acres of land in
Allston. The school's long-term plans call for the development
of about 200 acres for classrooms, residential buildings,
cultural facilities, labs and other uses. Planners Cooper
Robertson, architect Frank Gehry, and landscape designer Laurie
Olin have been commissioned to help plan the new campus and
urban framework.
Groundbreaking for the new science complex
is slated for next year.
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