Skip to Content
suggested searches
close

University of Connecticut
Gant Science Complex

Having served as the home of STEM teaching and research (and UConn’s largest academic building) for 50 years, Gant was ready for renovation. Outdated labs, systems, envelope, and a lack of interaction space, all needed to be addressed to meet UConn’s STEM mission.

  • Location

    • Storrs, CT

    Size

    • 281,000 GSF

    Program

    • Collaboration hub, research labs, innovation maker center, vivarium, Career Services office, multipurpose room, conference rooms, faculty offices, administration/support offices

    Practice area

    Certifications

    • Targeting LEED Gold Certification

    Awards

    • Design Award of Merit, AIA CT
    • Design Award of Merit, SARA National
    • Design Award of Merit, SARA New York
    • Project Team Award, Connecticut Building Congress

Ready for a new era of STEM

The comprehensive renovation of the Gant Science Complex takes a midcentury building with outdated labs, confusing hallways, and no space for collaboration—and completely transforms it for the 21st century. Today, high-tech labs and active learning classrooms are connected by corridors and lounges that welcome visitors and invite collegial interaction. Occupant comfort and energy performance are also being radically improved with systems and envelope upgrades.

Fresh casework and utilities level-up tired teaching labs and classrooms.
The three-phase renewal (one wing per phase) is maintaining operation of a ground-floor data center.

Making space for collaboration and light

Prior to the renovation, there was little space in the building for students and faculty to gathering outside of classrooms and labs. Our renovation finds space for students to study and socialize in corridors and connections between wings. Research groups can now gather in dedicated Theory Centers at the end of their lab wing. And at the heart of the building, a new Light Court provides a destination for students and faculty looking to study and unwind.

from lightwell to light court

A formerly unused lightwell in the center of the building is now the Light Court, a bright social hub.
Research groups can now gather in Theory Centers; wall graphics for these collaboration zones are selected by each group.
BEFORE: Long, undifferentiated corridors gave little hint of the innovative work happening within.
AFTER: Hallways are transformed by material, light, and shared spaces carved out of the plan.
BEFORE: Visitors frequently got lost in disorienting ground-floor hallways.
AFTER: The new Light Court anchors hallway views, and light and color help with wayfinding.
Lighting and graphics relate to the research happening within the complex.
BEFORE: An unused lightwell/courtyard was inaccessible and in poor repair.
AFTER: The Light Court is a popular destination for students and faculty within the building.
The renovated teaching and research labs put science on display and create a fundamentally new image for Gant on UConn’s campus. Headshot of Geoffrey Meier with orange background
Geoffrey Meier Senior Associate
Renewed labs provide space and infrastructure for a wide range of research.
Students now have space to study and relax outside of class.

Taking active learning for a test drive

Faculty were initially reluctant to commit to active-learning teaching labs, which were unfamiliar to them. To help with familiarity and adoption, our team build a full-scale mock-up of an active-learning teaching lab (below). Professors spent a semester test-driving the mockup and providing feedback that improved our design. By the end of the semester, faculty were eager to commit. Today, these active-learning teaching labs are such a hit that they are being requested elsewhere on campus.

This full-scale active learning teaching lab mockup was key to increasing faculty comfort and refining the design.

Enhancing energy and comfort

Addressing years of deferred maintenance and end-of-life materials, brick and concrete walls have been restored and insulated and windows have been replaced with high-performance glazing. As a result, air infiltration through the envelope has reduced from 1.60 cfm/sf to .06-.10 cfm/sf, and the R-value of the exterior wall assembly has gone from R-2 to R-30—a dramatic improvement for occupant comfort.

Existing wall assembly (left), and over-insulated assembly (right)
50-year-old concrete and brick is ready for another half-century of service life.
Project impact
  • R-30

    R-value of average exterior wall after window replacement and insulation (R-2 prior to renovation)

  • 37%

    Reduction of indoor water use below baseline

For more information about this project:

Share this project:

Collaborator

Mitchell Giurgola

Project Team

Acentech

Atelier Ten

Gilbane

Haley & Aldrich

PR Sherman

Salas O’Brien

Tighe & Bonde

Towers Golde

Vermeulens

Wil-Spec

Whiting-Turner

Photography

Robert Benson

Related Content

Back to top