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Clif's Notes on Higher Education
Sustainable Structures Without the USGBC Seal
Today, the decision to design more sustainable structures is sort of a no-brainer. As stewards of our environment, we need to create sustainable buildings – but whether or not you certify a building with the USGBC – that’s another discussion. Our recent design efforts at various universities have helped identify different attitudes regarding the question of whether or not to certify projects.
- At the University of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign we’ve designed an addition to their historic Huff Gym for their College of Applied Health Sciences. Here we are certifying this design and construction at the Silver level. UIUC’s Facilities & Services Planning Department is programming all projects more than $5 million to be at least LEED™ Silver certified and their Construction Management Department is applying LEED standards and practices to capital projects over $5 million.
College Choosing
In my travels throughout the higher ed world, I’ve taken to asking folks I run into how they made their college choice. I am interested for two main reasons:
1. There was a huge difference between how I chose to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign way back when ( I never visited a school or even looked at a college brochure - I asked my friends where they were going and it sounded good to me) and how my two sons chose their schools (lots of process, safety schools, stretch schools, location, academics, etc.). Things have changed mightily.
Big Enough?
Big universities have large campuses. And their capital delivery process is generally supported by a correspondingly large facilities staff. In fact, all things associated with the capital delivery on a large campus tend to be big and onerous. But that’s not all bad – they need processes and procedures to keep track (and report the legalities) of their dealings. While it may not always be pleasant, designing a building on a large campus, and getting it built, is always interesting.
But RATIO’s recent experiences working on smaller campuses (Millikin University and Indiana State University) are making me appreciate the meaning of “scale” at institutions of higher learning. Bigger doesn’t necessarily transfer into better, and smaller has its challenges as well. The void that a small school’s staff creates, in relation to those of a larger institution, means that not only what you do is different, but how you do it. The tasks involved in delivering a design for a small institution are markedly different from those required by a larger institution, for the same project.
Spaces in Between Places
I have often heard, and have myself often repeated, that what makes a campus truly wonderful are the spaces that develop (planned or otherwise) between buildings.
Sure, the buildings are an important expression of the campus’ mission and values. But a great deal of student life happens between buildings, formal events planned by student groups, impromptu games of touch football or study sessions held outdoors. Arguably, the environments these places foster are just as important to defining a place and the contextual architecture that surrounds them.
High-End Student Housing: The Future of College Residence Halls?
I remember my college housing experience. A couple of guys, about 400 square feet and antics that rivaled those in the 1970s classic movie Animal House. All part of the college experience, right? Not according to today’s students.
Living in a shoebox of a room – with another person – filled to the gills with televisions, stereos and laundry to take home to mom is one of those things we could accept as part of the “college experience.” It was as a rite of passage. But today’s Millennial generation doesn’t seem to see it that way.
Teaming for a new CSU Engineering Building
Earlier this year RATIO Architects was fortunate to be selected from a field of over 50 teams to design a new engineering building on the campus of Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins, CO. The building will be approximately 100,000 square feet and will exceed LEED Gold standards with a goal of being a zero energy facility. Our team includes the Denver firm of SLATERPAULL Architects. Think of this as the first of several posts regarding this, with this as the “announcement” version.
Higher Ed Navigation - Part 1
After a 12 year stint at a University I have returned to the private sector and find myself comfortably imbedded at RATIO. There are many, many differences between the public and private sector. None bigger, from my point of view, than the decision-making process. Like any organization, within the University there are bosses, who have bosses, and so on up the decision making chain. Where this differs from the private sector is that here individuals are employed on their merits and empowered, all along the chain to make decisions. Hire good people and get out of the way. Over there, it’s often hire good people and burden their decision-making with process that robs them of initiative. The ability to make a decision and have it stick becomes much harder. Everything is “reviewable” by someone further up the chain. Decisions aren’t always based on the merits of a particular solution; they can also be based on prescribed process. So be it – it took years to get to this point and it will take years to change. Just be thankful when you run into a project where that’s not the case.
It’s not you, it’s me
I spent 12 years at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), at various times as the University Architect and as the Campus Architect. (There’s a bigger difference than you’d think between those two; much bigger than I ever thought). While in those seats, I had responsibility for the securing design services more than 75 projects or commissions. The projects were of various shapes and sizes, from a $120M stadium renovation to a residence hall that needed sprinklering to meet a state-mandated timeline. Like almost anything else we do in our lives, the projects that were more important (and believe me, at the UIUC each project is #1 to that particular faculty) or more expensive, received increased attention. Sometimes from sources you’d just as soon had turned their radar off.
Where are you going to school?
I went to high school in Wheaton Illinois and graduated in 1971. Compared to today, I had a relatively effortless time selecting a college to attend. Clutching at the last minute, I decided against going to the Air Force Academy (I thought I wanted to be a pilot). The ensuing college selection process consisted of asking my friends where they were going to school. Neither of my parents had gone to college and their available attention span (there were eight of us kids)didn’t quite stretch to include any significant degree of school-placement advising. It wasn’t like they didn’t have an interest in my future education, but there was really no input whatsoever from the parents. Thankfully, I had smart friends, ended up at the University of Illinois, landed on my feet and have managed to stay there ever since.
Amenityville Horror
Last month, at a dinner at friend’s house, I asked one their daughters (a sophomore in high school) if she was going to follow her older sister and attend the local Big Ten university. She said no, she was going to go to Illinois Wesleyan University in a neighboring town, because “it’s got the best food court I’ve ever seen.” And she was serious.
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