Applied Engineering Research Center Concept Design

Cooper Carry explored innovative arrangements and form to elevate the effectiveness of a new Applied Engineering Research Center, a cutting-edge facility that would strengthen the university’s reputation as an engine for economic development.

The Applied Engineering Research Center houses research and teaching laboratories, student design spaces, conference rooms, faculty offices, and multiple study areas. We created three concepts for this programming. The Village Concept highlights separate areas, allowing the lab spaces and traditional spaces to remain separate, yet joined together by a connective roof canopy. This exterior focus of the building provides a gateway experience for the campus. In contrast, the Forum Concept is interior focused, where science on display is curated in the interior courtyard. A gentle lift at the edge of the building encourages connection with the main campus. The Hub Concept is ultra efficient in design, with spaces and components grouped by type. Glass windows wrap the building, and large-scale graphics allow the building to be a billboard for the campus, viewable from the nearby main road.

By expanding the research capabilities of the university, the building will be instrumental in serving students and industry through excellence in education, discovery, and application of engineering and applied sciences.