Construction began recently on Cornell University’s new 135,000 square feet building that will house Cornell’s Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science (Cornell Bowers CIS). The design was created by the Boston-based Leers Weinzapfel Associates. The structure will unite three departments: Computer Science, Information Science, and Statistics and Data Science for the first time within one single complex.
The brand new structure, which is four stories tall, located in Ithaca, N.Y., will be a distinct Bowers CIS precinct of continuous open spaces and buildings which will attract students from a variety of disciplines throughout the university, as per the news release issued by Leers Weinzapfel Associates. The three floors of the building linked with Gates Hall will float above an active and lively ground floor that will frame the outdoor space that is ideal for everyday usage, small gatherings as well as large-scale celebrations.
Both wings will house research offices for academics and computer labs that will be augmented by a set of collaboration spaces on the three floors above. On the ground, the school “ramble” along the courtyard edge will be a space to study in small groups or for individual studies, and the commons, a cafe, and a large interactive classroom, several large constructor labs, and an area for makers will provide spaces for students to study and work on projects with others.
Rendering courtesy Leers Weinzapfel Associates
A sculptural ribbon of faceted metal fins will cover the three floors of research floors and create a distinctive identity for the building and ensuring an environmentally sustainable window area.
“Our goal is to create a place for both the dynamic exchange of ideas and for quiet focused research,” said Andrea Leers, principal-in-charge of Leers Weinzapfel Associates. Since the establishment of Cornell’s Faculty of Computing and Information Science in 1999, Cornell has experienced continued student growth in the fields of information science and computing.
A steady growth rate and distinctive collaborative research drives the college to create cutting-edge information and computing technologies and to analyze and comprehend the impact on society and people on these technology.
The project will integrate sustainable development strategies in order to be compliant with the Supplemental Ithaca Energy Code as well as the NYStretch Energy Code.
Solution: Use air space to buffer. Air space could serve as a sound buffer, thus reducing the floor sound and airborne sound. Air space can be created, for example, by using drop ceilings or an engineered wood floor that is floating over a flooring pad.
Modular units offer the benefit of having air space built in between the units. Arup offered acoustic and designs for fire in a large, affordable housing project for Forterra, the land conservation organization based in Seattle. In the apartment module model, Arup built an acoustic layer over the floor, with a top and underlayment.
“What’s really nice about modular construction is the stacked modules have air space with insulation material between them, which is good both acoustically and from a thermal protection standpoint,” Blount states.