Construction Progresses on Roux Center for the Environment at Bowdoin College

Bowdoin College's newest building—the Roux Center for the Environment—is gradually taking shape, on track to open next fall on the college's Brunswick, ME campus.

The Center, which is located at the corner of College St. and Harpswell Rd., is funded by a lead gift from David and Barbara Roux. When it is open, it will bring together faculty and students from across the College’s curriculum, fostering collaboration and creativity in the teaching and study of the environment.

Bowdoin Roux Center

Besides offices, classrooms, and labs, the 29,167 square-foot center will contain study spaces, a terrace, a green roof, and “The Lantern,” a glassed-in auditorium space at the front of the building. The building is designed to welcome all, to be a space not only for teaching and research but also for performances, community forums, social gatherings, and talks.

To date, Roux Center construction and design team—Warren Construction Group and Cambridge Seven Associates architects—have already erected steel columns and finished the elevator shaft.

The steel structure, along with corrugated metal decks, supports the concrete slab floors, which will be placed over the next couple of months. The concrete for the basement and first floor have already been placed. To work through the winter, there are heaters in the basement and the structure will be enclosed with tarps.

“The pretty stuff will start in late spring and early summer,” says Bowdoin Director of Capital Projects Don Borkowski, who is overseeing the project. “It’ll start to come together then.”

Featured

  • Q&A: How to Prevent Kitchen Grease Fires in Commercial Kitchens

    School cafeterias and university dining halls serve thousands of meals daily, relying on high-heat equipment like fryers, grills, and ovens. While these operations keep students fed, they also generate significant grease-laden vapors. Without proper controls, this grease becomes a silent fire threat. As a certified exhaust cleaning specialist and business coach who has helped hundreds of institutional facilities achieve NFPA 96 compliance, I emphasize that proactive grease management isn’t optional; it’s a core fire/life safety practice.

  • Porter Family Center

    Porter Family Center for Innovation and Academics

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The Porter Family Center for Innovation and Academics has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Project of Distinction award in the category of New Construction.

  • UCF Modernizes College of Hospitality Management

    The University of Central Florida in Orlando, Fla., recently completed a major renovation effort for the Rosen College of Hospitality Management, according to a news release. The project modernized 77,600 square feet worth of academic classrooms, teaching labs, and collaborative spaces to support both students and faculty.

  • Wold Architects & Engineers Announces Acquisition of JJCA

    Wold Architects & Engineers, based in Minneapolis, Minn., recently announced that it has acquired JJCA, an architecture firm based in Nashville, Tenn., according to a press release. JJCA specializes in healthcare and education design; the partnership allows both firms to expand their presence across the country while building on existing strengths.