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Eureka!
Science Center plans near completion by Stacey Wilson '96 Extreme makeovers are all the rage these days, and the science facilities at Puget Sound are set to join the trend. Plans are nearly complete for a $24.4 million building adjoining Thompson Hall on the Union Avenue side—closing in the Thompson quadrangle—and a renovation in stages of Thompson itself. George Paton, the university’s manager of capital development, says the university has outgrown Thompson Hall, both physically and technologically. “This was a design from the mid-1960s,” says Paton. “It’s a good building, but it just can’t accommodate increased student and faculty traffic.” In 1980, 210 students majored in the sciences at Puget Sound . By 2002 that number had risen to 377, and today 31 percent of the Class of 2006 has expressed interest in the sciences. With growth in talent and interest comes a need to keep pace with the times. Chemistry Professor Tom Rowland says that Thompson Hall was state-of-the-art 40 years ago, but falls short in 2004. “In examining our resources, we learned the building was in great need of modernization,” says Rowland. “And not just a cosmetic makeover of the existing infrastructure.” Rowland points to the segregation of departments, inconvenient distances of faculty offices from labs (which many say are crowded and not ventilated properly), and lack of adequate experiment space as major challenges to overcome. He also says that laboratory fume hoods and reagent shelves obstruct visibility, computers are difficult to access, and most supply areas are cramped. “Once we identified the specific improvements that needed to be made, it was a major shift in the planning process,” says Rowland. A formal plan for construction began in the summer of 2002, when a science committee was named, headed by Paton, a civil/mechanical engineer who previously oversaw large-scale projects at Bowdoin College , and Rowland, who was appointed faculty “shepherd” to address interdepartmental concerns. Representatives from each department also were included on the committee. Over the next 11 months, the group conducted an intense review of criteria such as building height, safe and secure access, service, pedestrian pathways, and the relationship of a new facility to the campus community. The committee also visited other liberal arts colleges that recently have remodeled their science facilities. The committee recommended, and the Board of Trustees approved, a three-phase plan for a totally integrated Science Center. The first phase will be the addition of a 51,000 sq.-ft. teaching and research laboratory building to the existing 121,000 sq.-ft. structure. The new building will bridge the existing north and south wings of Thompson Hall, creating a central courtyard that will include a new 1,200 sq.-ft. multi-purpose space. From the outside, the completed Science Center will have two new accessible and defined entries, one from Union Avenue on the west and the other from Karlen Quadrangle on the east. The Union entry will provide a “ceremonial” front door for the entire complex, and the quadrangle opening will be in line with the Jones Hall cloisters, providing a second front-door on the main campus. On the inside, the new building will boast improved lab and lab-support areas. For example, chemistry labs on the top floor will vent directly to the roof, enabling much safer and enhanced hood and room ventilation. Line-of-sight during experiments will also improve as reagent shelves and exhaust hoods will be situated along the perimeter of the laboratory, and lab benches with knee cutouts will serve as desks. Lab stations will accommodate one portable computer workstation for each pair of students. The first floor will house the university’s first environmental studies lab, increased teaching space for physics, and a closer, more convenient proximity to other departments for geology, previously located at the perimeter of Thompson Hall. Other changes include the relocation of the combined electronics, wood and machine shop, which serves all departments, to a new space near the physics lab on the first floor, and a house nitrogen system and telecommunication ports throughout. The most intriguing additions will also be the most aesthetically surprising. A series of celebrations of scientific inquiry demonstrate the beauty of natural phenomena and the patterns of the cosmos. A Foucault pendulum, designed by Professor of Physics Alan Thorndike, will be installed in the central lobby. The pendulum demonstrates the rotation of the earth. An analemma, which, over the course of a year, forms an elongated figure eight, will illustrate the progress of the earth’s axial tilt and elliptical orbit around the sun. Flooring will integrate mathematical numbers and concepts through tile patterns, among them a border pattern of pi translated into binary code, the Greco-Latin four-square puzzle, and prime numbers translated into Roman numerals. Current research and student poster presentations will also be periodically displayed in the lobby. Outside in the courtyard, an all-glass, crystal-shaped gazebo and café will offer a meeting space. The café and courtyard will be open to university neighbors, as well as to people on campus. The use of glass in both the gazebo and interior courtyard will maximize light and create a more open sense of community between Thompson and the rest of campus. The Portland, Ore., firm of SRG Partnership was chosen as lead architect. As of August 2004, Puget Sound had received $14.6 million in gift commitments from alumni, friends, faculty, staff, parents, foundations, and corporations. The remaining gap of $9.8 million will be met with additional fundraising and with university funds set aside in the capital budget. Science Center fundraising coordinator Liz Collins ’81 says that fundraising efforts include a variety of sources. “With any campaign of this size, early, large gifts and the commitment of the trustees set the stage for success. But hundreds of alumni also have responded. This project appeals to those who majored in the sciences, of course, but we hope all alumni will see the value in construction that benefits not only the sciences but the entire campus.” The total project cost for Phase 1 will be around $24.4 million. An additional $25.5 million is estimated for the remaining two phases, which will involve renovation of the existing north, east, and south wings of Thompson, creating a fully-integrated 172,000 sq.-ft. complex and courtyard. The first phase of the project could begin as early as January 2005, with completion in summer 2006. |
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