by ArchitectureWeek

Engineering students today face a different future from that of their predecessors. As design professionals develop new approaches to sustainability in architecture, old ideas about technology and mechanical controls as the ultimate solution are flying out the window.

That windows can open at all is a case in point. Whereas tightly sealed buildings were once considered essential for engineered energy efficiency, natural ventilation is now seen as an important option among the many diverse features contributing to low-energy, high-performance buildings.

And what better audience for this lesson than engineering students? At Oregon State University (OSU) in Corvallis, the new Kelley Engineering Center gives students such an environment as an object lesson. It has become the first academic engineering building to receive LEED Gold rating.

The Portland firm of Yost Grube Hall Architecture, along with their consultants, have created a four-story, 150,000-square-foot (14,000-square-meter) building to house research laboratories and office space for over 150 faculty members and 300 graduate students in the OSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Light and Air

The Kelley Engineering Center is organized around an atrium which acts both as a social space and as a mechanism for natural lighting and ventilation. Spanning the atrium, the roof diffuses the southern light. At each end, mosaics of transparent and translucent glass panels reduce glare and change in appearance throughout the day.   >>>

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Kelley Engineering Center at Oregon State University, designed by Yost Grube Hall Architecture, northwest elevation. Photo: Peter Eckert/ Eckert & Eckert Photography Central atrium. Photo: Peter Eckert/ Eckert & Eckert Photography   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.