University of Massachusetts Amherst Engineering Research Building

The Engineering Research Building houses the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Chemical Engineering. The building consists of two components: a laboratory block, which is three stories above grade, and the Learning Center, housed in a circular two-story volume. The Learning Center is available for campus-wide use, and includes a 195-seat lecture hall and a 35-seat distance learning classroom.

The program includes engineering research laboratories, lab support areas, team write-up and work areas, offices, conference room, and the lecture hall and classroom. All laboratory areas are based on flexible planning modules, allowing the building to be configured into single- and multiple-module laboratories; typical floors were designed to accommodate future reconfiguration.

Exterior building materials – brick, metal, and glass – were selected to respond to existing campus buildings. The lobby functions as an architectural thoroughfare for the campus, connecting it to lower-level parking areas.

Ellenzweig served as Architect-of-Record, Lab Planner, and Design Architect; Whitney Atwood Norcross served as Associate Architect.