A community of buildings
Rowan University, Engineering Campus with Engineering Hall at right
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- Building community
No building is an island. Every structure sits in an existing physical context, whether it be on an historic campus, in a contemporary urban neighborhood, or in a rural setting. In all cases, respect for context should be both a paramount concern as well as an inspiration for excellent design.
Context includes the physical, historic, and cultural, aspects of a site. Good, responsible design responds to all these parameters and generates building form and character that complement the locale. Ideally, the new building accentuates and enhances the best of its surroundings.
Responding to context is not simply an act of mimicking what is adjacent, however. Often the most enduring design solutions are those that interpret context in an innovative manner that draws from the past, acknowledges the present, and can accommodate the future.
Our work combines this respect for context with the goal of celebrating the function and mission of the project at hand to develop an architectural language that speaks both to the past and the future.
The large image at the start of this section is a view of Rowan University’s Engineering campus, where Ellenzweig designed Engineering Hall, including a connecting bridge to the existing Engineering building, Rowan Hall. Through the careful manipulation of massing and scale as well as the use of compatible exterior materials and window patterns, Engineering Hall creates a unified Engineering complex with Rowan Hall. The two buildings are strongly connected via similar massing and literally at the Third Floor by the new bridge, which not only houses the Dean’s office suite and student interaction spaces, but creates an iconic gateway entrance to Rowan University.
University of Maine, Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center
University of Maine, Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center
The Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center at University of Maine (shown above) fits comfortably into the existing University context, successfully balancing context and and modernity. The building’s brick façade is integrated into the historic Engineering neighborhood, respecting the traditional character of the surrounding structures while introducing a sense of openness and contemporary expression in the use of modern design elements such as recessed first floor level and the expansive glass and metal panels.
Cuyahoga Community College’s STEM Center (above left) connects to the College’s original campus complex, a brick structure constructed in the 1970s. The STEM Center references the existing building’s composition, but reinterprets it with terracotta paneling and more generous exterior glazing.
Rutgers University, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy Addition
At Rutgers University, the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy Addition is integrated into the existing late 1960s Pharmacy building and sits adjacent to a low-rise 1970s concrete building. The addition, with appropriate proportions and scale, provides a new, contemporary front elevation for the School of Pharmacy that integrates well with its surroundings while enlivening an existing Quad.
