Social Sciences at the University of Scranton, Pa.

The University of Scranton, Scranton, Pa., has dedicated the Loyola Science Center, one of the country’s most innovative science buildings. The center is the largest capital project in the history of the Jesuit university and the culmination of more than 15 years of planning and preparation. 

Built on the ideas of the Project Kaleidoscope, a program spearheaded by the National Science Foundation whose goal is to boost the quality of teaching and learning in the sciences, the Loyola Science Center features formal and informal learning spaces designed to promote discussion and debate. The layout encourages integration among the traditional science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs, as well as the humanities, to drive the development of new teaching methods and engage students. 

Designed to meet LEED silver certification, the facility incorporates a dynamic, modern design that includes visible glass-walled laboratories.

“It is a structure that emphasizes human interactions as a critical part of education, a structure that unites the traditionally separate and disparate academic disciplines,” says George Gomez, associate professor of biology and neuroscience, and project shepherd. 

EYP Architecture & Engineering (Albany, N.Y.) is architect for the project.