New Science Complex Praised

New Rector Science Complex

Architecture DC applauds Stuart Hall and James Hall

The kudos keep coming for Stuart Hall and James Hall in the Rector Science Complex.

Architecture DC magazine devotes three photos and two pages to Stuart Hall and James Hall in its Spring 2010 issue.

The article pays tribute to the college’s historic origins, pitched slate roofs and limestone walls, as well as to the architect for Stuart and James halls, Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects (ZGF).

“Some of the more recent campus buildings, include Tome Hall, to which the ZGF project connects, represent a modern take on the historic context,” the article says. “But James Hall and Stuart Hall take this to an entirely new level, visually connecting the college to 21st-century learning models.”

And while the article was off by a century when it said the college’s origins were “in the 19th century,” it noted that the “new building uses the same limestone, providing a fundamental degree of continuity. The sloping roofs have been substantially reinterpreted, however, into a radiating sawtooth configuration (ZGF calls them ‘petals’). The most surprising update involves the slate shingles, which have been morphed into iridescent stainless steel wall panels. These panels—a greenish metallic color in soft, neutral light—take on dramatically different hues depending on the sun, time of day, and angle of view, lending animation to the building—a metaphor, one assumes, for the dynamic learning environment within.”

Last year, Stuart Hall and James Hall received an honorable mention educational award in “Environmental Design + Construction” magazine’s Excellence in Design Awards competition.

The awards recognize commercial, government, institutional and educational projects as well as single-family residences that demonstrate a clear commitment to green building and sustainable design. Dickinson’s project was the only science complex cited by the magazine in the educational category. Other educational institutions’ projects included libraries, common areas, a sustainability building, athletic facilities and student housing.

The halls achieved a LEED Gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. The project features 90,000 square feet of state-of-the art laboratories, classrooms and research facilities, and house the departments of biology, chemistry, psychology and interdisciplinary programs in biochemistry & molecular biology and neuroscience.

Last year, Stuart Hall and James Hall received an honorable mention educational award in Environmental Design + Construction magazine’s Excellence in Design Awards competition.

The awards recognize commercial, government, institutional and educational projects as well as single-family residences that demonstrate a clear commitment to green building and sustainable design. Dickinson’s project was the only science complex cited by the magazine in the educational category. Other educational institutions’ projects included libraries, common areas, a sustainability building, athletic facilities and student housing.

The halls achieved a LEED Gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. The project features 90,000 square feet of state-of-the art laboratories, classrooms and research facilities, and house the departments of biology, chemistry, psychology and interdisciplinary programs in biochemistry & molecular biology and neuroscience.

Published June 12, 2013