Project Description
Imagined as a place where visually impaired students can be brought into the vernacular of today’s culture, so heavily entrenched in technology, the new Grousbeck Center for Students and Technology is a vibrant campus hub that encourages innovation, communication and independence, and also expands Perkins’ teacher training programs and educational outreach. The project incorporates a variety of innovative universal design concepts that appeal to all the senses and engage the diverse student body.
Exterior materials composed of brick, aluminum panels and glass serve to create a welcoming gateway and relate to the established campus fabric comprised predominately of early 20th century brick buildings with slate roofs. Clearly articulated massing components reduce the building’s overall scale and mediate with adjacent buildings. A central double-height glass lobby unifies the student areas and the teacher training facilities, and a straight-forward orthogonal plan provides users a clear and comprehensible circulation path.
Engaging all the senses, tactile, auditory and visual cues are integrated into the building and landscape to inform and introduce a sense of delight into students’ daily experience. A variety of textured floor surfaces—polished concrete floors, textured rubber panels and carpet tiles—provide directional cues. In addition, differences in surface absorption at major thresholds present audible signals. The central lobby and entrances are framed by large windows and colorful walls, providing users who have low vision directional information. The lighting design also contributes directional information to users who have low vision. Small round ceiling lights demarcate the corridors and long bar lights are positioned above gathering areas and in rooms.
The project is LEED Silver certified. The team’s sustainable design approach focused on creating healthy environments and providing all users easy and intuitive control over building systems. As one of the first buildings in the country to incorporate accessible system controls, the project is a benchmark for the use of technology for universal accessibility. GUND consulted with a software developer to create an iPad application that controls all aspects of individual comfort — lighting, shading and thermal comfort — in addition to controlling the Center’s advanced audiovisual systems.