Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Buffalo State College: Technology Building

  • 11/01/14
Buffalo State College: Technology Building

PHOTOS © 2014 TIM WILKES PHOTOGRAPHY

SUNY Buffalo State’s new three-story, 87,000-square-foot Technology Building establishes a technology-based educational center, which will be a focal point for industry education and integrated learning. It replaces existing facilities inadequate for high-tech manufacturing research and instruction.

Project architect, The S/L/A/M Collaborative, fulfilled project goals to create a facility that would elevate the visibility of technology on campus, maximize shared teaching spaces, attract and retain faculty, provide shared student resources space and be an incubator for regional industry.

According to school officials, the facility supports Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s innovation agenda through its smart-grid laboratories with cutting edge equipment. “This new asset will better prepare our workforce and train our students for the jobs of tomorrow, while also encouraging innovation and nurturing new businesses right here in Western New York,” Governor Cuomo said in a press statement, when the building officially opened in September 2013.

The facility includes labs for teaching and research, lean production, materials testing, environment and information technologies. It also includes smart classrooms, lecture halls and support spaces. Among the subjects offered are fashion and textile technology, electrical engineering technology, mechanical engineering technology and computer information systems.

The LEED Gold-certified building is a showpiece for technology and a teaching tool for sustainability. It is also a campus hub for the largely commuter-based student body.

Sustainability features include an extensive green roofing system on the lower roof to mitigate stormwater and heat loads; photovoltaic solar panels are mounted on the upper roof to provide renewable energy for a portion of the electrical loads. The long axis of the linear bar building runs east to west, reinforcing Buffalo State’s master plan for a linear pedestrian mall. The linear bar configuration and the building’s orientation allows ample daylighting and exterior access to four high-bay project spaces on the first floor. Additionally, student projects are featured on a digital display that also provides real-time updates on building systems’ performance.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Architectural Power for the Modern Campus Landscape

    For generations, an outdoor classroom only required a textbook and a patch of grass. Today, not only has the laptop replaced the printed pages, the rise of agile learning has turned campuses into study halls with students listening to lectures and researching topics from quads, gardens, and plazas. The challenge for architects and facility managers is to provide connectivity without cluttering the landscape with visual eyesores or creating safety hazards with extension cords.

  • Rhode Island Boarding School Completes Student Dorm Renovations

    St. George’s School in Middletown, R.I., recently announced the completion of a $26-million renovation project on Arden-Diman-Eccles Dormitory, according to a news release. The school partnered with Voith & Mactavish Architects (VMA) on the new space, which places a new focus on collaborative community spaces open to both boarding students and day students.

  • Construction Begins on New University Research Vessel

    Boat-building company All American Marine recently announced that it has begun construction on a new catamaran research vessel for the University of Texas Marine Science Institute (UTMSI) in Port Aransas, Texas, according to a news release.

  • Northeastern University Breaks Ground on New Housing Community

    Northeastern University recently announced the groundbreaking of a new student housing community on its campus in Boston, Mass., according to a news release. The university is partnering with American Campus Communities (ACC) for development of the project, which will have the capacity for 1,200 students and has a scheduled completion date of fall 2028.