Best of 2006 Awards
Western Connecticut State University New Science Building
AWARD OF MERIT: Higher Education
 The new $34 million science center at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury is intended to not only be an incubator for scientific studies but also a symbol of the technologies, concepts, and innovations being taught inside. Designed by Mitchell Giurgola Architects of New York and Fletcher-Thompson of Shelton, Conn., and built by Fusco Construction of New Haven, Conn., the 120,800-sq.-ft. structure will be the first publicly funded project in Connecticut to seek silver-level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification.
Completed in August, the new building houses the biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, and meteorology departments. It has a greenhouse, observatory, weather center, and biochemistry lab. “There was some thoughtful stuff in there,” said one juror.
The building is located outside the main campus “quadrangle” and was designed to be an anchor that links the school to the neighborhood. It was also developed to serve as an outdoor teaching laboratory for use by the biology department and to accommodate future growth and expansion.
The building is on the university’s former football field and stadium, which had been relocated. Initial site preparation efforts involved recycling of the existing metal bleachers, synthetic turf, and gravel base, which was used as a base material for the new foundation and site access road.
Built on a concrete pier and foundation wall system, the building has a structural steel frame with concrete floors on metal decks. The brick exterior walls have a concrete backup and the aluminum curtain wall utilizes a 1-in.-thick, low-emissivity coated insulated glass system.
Meanwhile, the two-story main entrance has a glass canopy and roof trellis and an outdoor gathering area joined to the lobby. The designers chose materials that reflect the campus, while creating a building that embodies modern technology in its sustainable design features. One is a solar control system on the exterior that provides both daylight penetration and shading to lessen cooling costs. The south façades facing the campus have a brick base and horizontal limestone-colored precast panels with strip windows and a perforated aluminum sunscreen.
Other green features eligible for LEED credits include waterless urinals and ultralow- flow toilets that help the building save 50 percent of the water usage for a standard similar-sized building.
“Definitely, it was a cut above,” one judge said. “I thought it was successful.”
Key Players
Owner: State of Connecticut Department of Public Works; Connecticut State University System
Construction Administrator: Morganti Group
Contractor: Fusco Corp.
Design Architect: Mitchell Giurgola Architects
Architect of Record-Structural Engineer: Fletcher-Thompson
Civil Engineer: McChord Engineering Associates
Steel: Delhi Steel
Concrete-Masonry: Waterbury Masonry & Foundation
Plumbing-Mechanical: F&F Mechanical Contractors
Electrical: Paul Dinto Electrical Contractors
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