Designed by CO Architects, the 100,000 square-foot complex facilitates interdisciplinary collaboration between faculty members, students, and researchers. In order to break the tradition of separate research and teaching, the architects provided open, public meetings spaceswith large glass surfaces allowing visual contact between labs and promoting a more open attitude towards science.
Related: Oregon’s Largest Education Building Achieves LEED Platinum Certification
Various sustainable features complement the innovative layout. An outdoor laboratory located on the second floor terrace has growing containers that allow researchers and students to experiment with plant research. A huge, three-storygreen rooffeatures drought-tolerant planted areas that function as teaching tools. Additionally, a large solar array generates 10 percent of the building’s electricity. These features combined led to the building’s LEED-Gold certification.
+ CO Architects
Photos by Bill Timmerman