Bristol Community College John J. Sbrega Health and Science Building
Fall River, MA
Teaching and research laboratories combine to create a new campus gateway and community hub for scientists and students alike
The Ohio State University Wooster New Laboratory Building
The new building is home to the department of entomology, undergraduate chemistry classrooms, teaching and research labs, office spaces, and a café
The Ohio State University hired Sasaki to lead the master plan of the Wooster campus and create a vision for merging the research and teaching operations in shared, multipurpose buildings. As a result, Sasaki, together with Hasenstab Architects, won the commission to implement the first building. The new building provides replacement laboratory space for entomologists, new chemistry teaching labs, and a bug zoo for outreach to primary schools in the region.
Founded in 1892 as the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, the campus has a long history of serving as a resource for the farming community, and a center for both field and molecular research to improve crop yield and quality as well as animal and human health. Pollinator and demonstration gardens surround the new lab building creating a unique and welcoming new front door to the Wooster campus.
The surrounding landscape is a working component of the building with gardens for exploration by visitors to the bug zoo and demonstration plots for collaboration with the agricultural community
The United Titanium Bug Zoo is located within the new building and showcases specimens in an effort to educate the community about Arthropods
The first floor café and open study spaces promote interaction between campus faculty, staff, and visitors
Learning environments are concentrated at the first floor along with research space, which is highly visible from the public areas. Entomology research labs accommodate teams that use bugs as model systems to study the impact of climate change, disease, and crop production at both the molecular and macro scale. The result is a diverse array of lab spaces from “dirty” field labs for sorting crop samples at the ground level to “clean” labs on the upper floors.
The feature stair anchors the west end of the building. The open and airy design encourages movement and promotes connections to the upper levels.
The perforated metal, which wraps the stair, showcases OSU’s iconic scarlet red. Warm wood adorns the stair walls and ceiling, establishing continuity from the first floor community space.
Lab Planning
The lab planning approach began by quantifying the variety of research teams and their required footprints. Often the footprints could be reduced when equipment and space is shared. The final space programming for researchers includes wet lab space, shared lab support space, and office and meeting areas for the teams.
On the upper levels, glass walls separate the labs from the open office areas, encouraging interactions and knowledge sharing
A glass wall separates the chemistry lab from the public first floor space, offering natural light to the lab and obscure views to passersby
Lab and support spaces on the upper levels sit atop a transparent lower level, providing views into the entire length of the building and up the feature stair. The roof overhang and deep horizontal mullions provide shade in the summer months and allow for heat gain in the winter.
For more information contact Victor Vizgaitis.
