Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Rockwell Integrated Sciences Center at Lafayette College Celebrates Grand Opening

  • 10/22/19

PHILADELPHIA, PA – The grand opening of the Rockwell Integrated Sciences Center (RISC) on the campus of Lafayette College in Easton, PA, took place in late September. The five-story, 104,000-square-foot academic science and laboratory building features a basement, laboratories, a vivarium, greenhouse, classrooms, and administrative spaces for the Biology, Neuroscience, and Computer Science departments.

The building brings together Lafayette’s biology, computer science, environmental science, and neuroscience departments to promote the integration of different sciences and to foster collaboration and innovation. In addition to academic departments, the building houses the Dyer IDEAL Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Hanson Center for Inclusive STEM Education and will also connect to the Acopian Engineering Center building.

Lafayette College Integrated Science Center 500

The Harman Group provided structural engineering services for the $75-million project, the largest capital project in the school’s history. Turner Construction Company is the builder and Boston-based architecture firm, Payette, designed the building to encourage collaborative learning amongst the college’s science and engineering departments.

Situated on the north side of the campus’ quad, adjacent to the Anderson Courtyard, RISC is set into a hillside in between two existing buildings, requiring a unique structural configuration of the five-story building. The building terraces down the steep slope with the main entrance from Anderson Courtyard into the third floor with two floors below and three floors visible from the courtyard. The foundation system employs spread and mat footings, underpinning of the existing buildings, and replacement of an aging 15-foot-tall retaining wall on the slope. The structure is a concrete slab on metal deck and composite beam floor system with a steel superstructure. A steel vierendeel truss system provides open column-free space, connecting the lobby to the exterior lower courtyard, supporting the brick exterior wall on the south side. The building was also strategically designed with vibration control to allow the operation of sensitive research equipment in the lab spaces.

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.