Gruzen Samton * IBI Group completes 89,000 s/f Human Ecology Building at Cornell

Gruzen Samton * IBI Group has opened the new 89,000 s/f Human Ecology Building at Cornell University's College of Human Ecology. The project was comprised of three main components: a parking garage, a three-story academic/laboratory building, and a commons linking the new facility to adjacent existing college buildings, all linked into the topography. This building is the new home for the Department of Fiber Science and Apparel Design (FSAD) with administrative offices clustered on the terrace level and faculty offices and labs on the three main floors. The space not only has upgraded facilities between departments, but also fosters collaboration between faculty, students and staff. The new building is loaded with high-tech research laboratories; classrooms; studios for drawing, design and fabrication; a gallery to display student and faculty works; and community spaces and seminar rooms to spark idea exchanges. "This building is state of the art and the labs are places for discovery that we have not had before," said associate dean of research and graduate education Kay Obendorf. A new 290-car garage is clad in local stone to ground it into the landscape. The top of the garage plinth is the main terrace level connecting the new academic/laboratory building to the commons and to the adjacent buildings and landscape. This building is in design for LEED Platinum certification; some of the green features include automatic ventilation, a green roof, electric vehicle charging stations, and a high-performance glass façade. Gruzen Samton * IBI Group is a 100-person architecture, planning and interior design firm based in New York City, with an office in Alexandria, Vir. The firm carries a legacy of over 70 years of design and planning projects, including significant projects in N.Y., Washington D.C. and world-wide. In May 2009, Gruzen Samton entered into a strategic alliance with The IBI Group, a multi-disciplinary consulting firm with offices across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.