Plant Sciences Building completed at Washington State University
Washington State University in Pullman, Wash., has completed construction of a $66 million Plant Sciences Building.
The university says the four-story, 95,000-square-foot building is latest addition to the V. Lane Rawlins Research and Education Complex on the Pullman campus. It provides a research venue for faculty, staff, and students in the Institute of Biological Chemistry, the Molecular Plant Science Program, and portions of the Departments of Horticulture, Plant Pathology, and Crop and Soil Sciences.
These programs were previously housed in Johnson Hall, built in 1959, and Clark Hall, constructed in 1971.
“This is a massive upgrade in the quality of our lab space,” said André-Denis Wright, dean of the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences (CAHNRS). “The labs we have now were built decades ago and were made for a single research program.
“Now, we can host CAHNRS faculty from four departments, and foster research that is both applied and basic—from finding out how plants grow and interact with soil, to addressing specific challenges in agriculture.”
The building is the fourth to be completed within the master plan for the university’s Research and Education Complex.
The master plan envisioned a series of laboratory buildings alternately flanking a glazed spine element that serves as the connective tissue for the social and research life of the complex.
The new building is positioned to the south of the Biotechnology and Life Sciences building. As the central element of the completed complex, the new building forms a prominent primary entry point that frames a new public space along Stadium Way.
At the western entry, the building’s cantilevered composition frames a new grand entry to the whole complex, and features a two-floor cantilever facing west toward Martin Stadium. The new landscaped approach creates a multifunctional public space for the university.
The new facility will be a social and interdisciplinary heart for the research complex. Upon arrival, a welcoming four-floor staircase encourages vertical circulation and provides important visual connections between floors.
The interior arrangement of laboratories is designed to support efficient and flexible research. The modular laboratories can be easily rearranged to respond to the changing needs of research throughout the building.
On the exterior, the building reimagines the red-brick campus vernacular in a new architectural approach; a high-performance precast concrete façade panel system is clad with a sculpted, red-brick veneer.
The panels integrate structure, insulation, weather barrier, interior, and exterior finishes within a single prefabricated component, accelerating construction sequencing and enabling a bespoke composition of organically inspired brick surfacing.
The design/build team is Skanska and LMN Architects.
MORE. From YouTube: Virtual Dedication of Plant Sciences Building.
