Sustainable Science: Dartmouth’s New Building

Dartmouth College’s Life Science Department will soon be expanding with the addition of the Class of 1978 Life Science Center. The new building will replace Gilman Hall, which currently houses the Life Sciences Department. This is good news, considering the increasing number of limitations that have become evident in Gilman Hall in recent years (1). Gilman Hall currently has only one classroom and limited research facilities, facts that became all too evident following the relocation of six Life Science Department professors from Gilman to Centerra laboratories in Lebanon, New Hampshire, because Gilman lacked the resources necessary for their research projects (2).

The initial plan was to construct the building closer to Gilman Hall and the other science department buildings on campus (3). The new building, however, will be located northeast of the Dartmouth Medical School’s Vail-Remsen building complex, replacing the Strasenburgh, Butler, and Medical Modular Laboratory facilities. Demolition began at these locations this past summer (4). Construction of the building itself was scheduled to begin in November 2007 (2). The building project is currently in the “Construction Documents phase,” indicating that details regarding the design and financial undertaking of the building construction have been finalized (5, 6). At present, the estimate for the date of completion and occupancy of the building is March 2010 (4).

The 174,500 square foot Life Sciences Building will include several amenities that will ultimately make it more hospitable to an expanding biology department as well as a growing research faculty (5). The four-story building will have two wings, with the longer east wing holding teaching facilities and faculty office-space (4) and the smaller north wing housing “research spaces and administration ” as well as laboratory and classroom facilities for undergraduate, graduate, and faculty study and research (3, 5, 4). The building will also include a 6,000 square foot green house (1). The Life Sciences Department currently relies on the Murdough Greenhouses in Gilman, which were constructed in 1964 and renovated in 1999 (7).

Other notable features to be included in the building are 30 wet labs, a 200-seat theater classroom, two 80-seat amphitheatre classrooms, and two 30-seat flexible classrooms. The incorporation of several large classrooms will alleviate the need for the Life Sciences Department to spread out into other areas of campus (5).

The architectural centerpiece of the building is a two-story atrium that will serve as common space as well as a location for exhibits and displays pertaining to the Life Sciences Department (4). The building will also incorporate an “elliptical” glass stair tower (1).

The building will also have many environmentally friendly features that should ultimately make it one of the most sustainable buildings of its type in the country at the time of its completion. Sustainability-oriented innovations to be included in the building include a “storm water management system” that will collect rainwater for later reuse. The third floor “sorghum and grasses green roof” will be an energy-conserving means of cooling the building. To publicize the energy efficiency of the building, there are plans to incorporate a “real-time dashboard” that will display the energy use in the building (4).

The Life Sciences Center is one of the most significant projects encompassed by the $1.3 billion Campaign for the Dartmouth Experience fund raising initiative (4). The Kemeny and McLaughlin buildings are examples of two previous projects that were part of the fund (1). The cost of construction of the Life Science Center will be approximately $94 million, $40 million of which will be donated by the Class of 1978 as part of the class’s 30th reunion donation (5, 4). In light of the gift, the official name of the building will be the Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center (4).

The ultimate goal of the new Life Sciences Center is to create a space that will foster both increased collaboration between the Life Sciences Department and other science departments on campus and interdisciplinary studies within the Life Sciences Department itself, which should ultimately keep Dartmouth College’s Life Sciences Department at the forefront of a rapidly expanding field of biological science in upcoming years (4).

References:
1. E. Goodell, Class of 1978 sets new donation record (2007). Available at http://thedartmouth.com/2007/10/10/news/gift/ (2 December 2007).
2. Z. Swiss, College to build $94 million bio building (2007). Available at http://thedartmouth.com/2007/06,26,news/building/ (2 December 2007).
3. S. Meacham, (2007). Available at http://www.dartmo.com/archives/category/life-sciences-building (2 December 2007).
4. S. Knapp, Dartmouth Class of 1978 launches $43 million 30th-reunion initiative (2007). Available at http://www.dartmouth.edu/~news/releases/2007/10/08a.html (2 December 2007); Z. Swiss, 2007.
5. Trustees of Dartmouth College, The Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center (2007). Available at https://campus-services.dartmouth.edu/projects/completed-projects/class-1978-life-sciences-center (2 December 2007).
6. Construction Documents (2001). Available at http://cpm.stanford.edu/process_new/Vol2%2093%20-%20Construction%20Documents.PDF (13 January 2008).
7. The Murdough Greenhouses (2007). Available at https://www.dartmouth.edu/greenhouse/ (13 January 2008).