University of Maine

Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center

Orono, Maine

Size
110,000 gsf new

Services
Feasibility Study
Programming
Lab Planning
Architecture

Roles
Ellenzweig
Design Architect and Laboratory Planner

WBRC
Architect of Record

The Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center is a multi-use teaching and research building, designed to serve as the heart of undergraduate engineering education and provide important new research opportunities for the College of Engineering at the University of Maine.

The building is organized around a central, multi-story public space, or “Main Street,” which provides interaction areas on every level. The Ferland Center’s brick facades relate to the predominant building material of the Engineering campus, while its contemporary form and detailed glass surfaces are consistent with the forward-looking research and teaching programs being conducted inside.

Program spaces include flexible laboratories and classrooms for education, design, and research; student team collaboration spaces; and common public spaces. Also included in the building is a Welcome Center, where all campus-wide tours, including those associated with the admissions process, originate. The Ferland Center thus serves as the gateway to the Orono campus, symbolizing the energy and expanding opportunities present at the College of Engineering as well as the University of Maine as a whole

The focal point of the EEDC is a hands-on, team-based laboratory suite for design projects of all types where students from multiple engineering disciplines come together to collaborate. The suite features two main project labs surrounded by a variety of project support spaces such as Rapid Prototyping; Electronics; Bioengineering; Composites; and wood, metal, and auto shops.

The building also houses the main tool lab for the College, which provides a comprehensive array of computer-controlled equipment for student work of all types.

In addition to these shared facilities, the building houses new teaching labs, the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the newly formed Department of Biomedical Engineering, and greatly expanded research space for Biomedical Engineering.

The Ferland Engineering and Education Design Center is a fantastic facility that serves as a dynamic space for learning and research, a place where campus tours originate, and a gathering spot for students from across the university.

– Joan Ferrini-Mundy, President

University of Maine