Physics and Nanotechnology Building

[Nick]

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[Nick]

IMG_2970 by UrbanMSP, on Flickr

[Silophant]

The tower crane came down today.

[Nick]

IMG_3603 by UrbanMSP, on Flickr

[FISHMANPET]

They've torn out the asphalt between Keller and Akerman to start pouring the final concrete slab in that area.

[seanrichardryan]

Is this a new building or a renovated 1970s lab? I'm having trouble here.

[FISHMANPET]

This is a brand new building. Unless you're being facetious? I walk by it quite a few times a day and I think it's a pretty nice building that fit's in well with what's around it.

[seanrichardryan]

[mulad]

Brick, brick, and more brick.

Brick?

[RailBaronYarr]

I'll agree that it looks more like the 70s backside of Vincent Hall or Kolthoff Hall than the nice brick buildings with architectural details, which is a shame IMO. Oh well.

[Tom H.]

Took a walk around this building today (my future workplace!). My overall impressions - it's boxy, boring, and doesn't address the surrounding spaces very well. In particular:

* West face: very unpleasant to walk along. The only windows on this side are very tall and narrow, and were not transparent from the sidewalk side. No doors, no architectural detail - a wall.
* North face: most unpleasant. An access road / alley (not sure what needs access over here, since the loading docks are on the northeast corner) runs along this side of the buliding, with about 5 parking spaces thrown in. This whole area feels very purposeless.
* East face: unclear. The small triangle of land between the street and the building has been a construction staging area, so I'm not sure what the final use of this land will be. Likely green space, which could be nice if done well.
* South face: nicest walking experience. Most of this is due to the Scholar's Walk and not the building itself, but it has many large (and transparent) windows into what will likely be graduate student meeting space. The main door (possibly only door?) into the building is on the southwest corner of the building.

It's hard not to get somewhat depressed when I think about moving out of my current office (in Tate Labs) into this building. It's pretty utilitarian and charmless, but at least it fills a gap in campus without too many glaring deficiencies.

[FISHMANPET]

The access road is for the loading zone between Shepherd and Akherman.

[Silophant]

I don't mind it. It's boxy and bland, but it fits in with Keller, Akerman, Shepherd, and the ramp that way. I do really like that the space between it and Akerman is a wide sidewalk now, instead of the mostly unnecessary road that used to be there. I'm also hoping and expecting that the triangle on the east side is restored to a shady green space.

[TheUrbanGopher]

I'm not one to criticize architecture often, because I know quite a few individuals in the field who work very hard at what they do, which I appreciate heartily. But I'll have to step outside of that notion for a second...

This building is really quite dreadful. It looks like the entire thing was dropped in from a helicopter. It is pure brick with windows that resemble the outcroppings in the Social Science/Heller Halls of the West Bank World.

The east side of the building does not address the street AT ALL. There is not even a sidewalk leading from Harvard to the entry, and landscaping work has prevented any pathway from being created. The windows only slightly lessen the block impact.

The north face is even worse. A couple small windows, but other than that, it is a massive brick face. It seems like the truck delivery area has the largest opening, but other than that, it just has a massive blank monotonous face.

The only saving grace for the project could be the interior architecture. I was lucky enough to see some early schematics and from what I remember, the lobby will have a good amount of cool sustainable features, like sun panels and an open atrium-like feel. But the exterior is really just plain bad.

I get that nanotechnology might be impacted by UV light, and that windows are inefficient for lecture halls and labs, but man, they botched this one IMO... especially compared to the aesthetically pleasing rec center addition across the street.

[Tom H.]

I'm in the physics department at the U - we're supposed to start moving in this month. The official word is that the new building has 'beneficial occupancy' as of yesterday, i.e no hardhats required inside. We expect to be all moved over early in the new year.

From an urbanist / architecture point of view, it's a pretty big disappointment to be moving from Tate right on the Mall to this thing. I'll have a beautiful view of the Washington Avenue parking ramp from my office.