Leers Weinzapfel Associates Completes LEED Gold-Designed Oak Hall at University of Connecticut

Last month in Storr, Connecticut, <a href="http://www.lwa-architects.com">Leers Weinzapfel Associates</a> completed their newest design, <a href="http://www.lwa-architects.com/#/projects/academic/1/1/image">Oak Hall</a>, at the <a href="http://www.uconn.edu/">University of Connecticut</a>. This building is the second classroom building on the campus that has been designed to LEED Gold standards, and it is ushering in a new era in sustainable growth for the university.

This design maximizes the amount of perimeter offices available for the staff, and connects the building to interior courtyards, which bring in natural light and views.

Laurel Hall is much smaller and offers mostly classrooms and lecture halls. Laurel Hall boasts a green roof located on the lower volume of the building.

Oak Hall, the twin to the first LEED Gold building Laurel Hall, is the new home of the College of Liberal Arts &amp; Sciences’ journalism, economics, languages, and linguistics departments.

The first floor of Oak Hall is made primarily of floor-to-ceiling glazing in order to make the building seem light on the ground. This also brings circulation into the building from the exterior courtyards.

Oak Hall is primarily made up of Lecture Halls on the first floor, while adding almost 40 new classrooms to the campus.

These brick and copper-faced buildings have strengthened the campus’ exterior civic space by modernizing this area of campus into a much larger flexible public space. The campus is continuing to grow and these buildings have created a space for lecturers and students alike to use.