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Friend Center for Engineering Education, Princeton University

Princeton, New Jersey
Completed 2001

State-of-the-art academic building and campus green
 

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This project was conceived as Princeton University's most technologically advanced facility, equipped with distance learning facilities, electronic interface with other facilities both on and off campus, and computer access virtually throughout.

Located across the street from the existing Engineering Quadrangle, the new four-story building connects at ground and lower levels with an existing computer science structure along the north; it projects west to house the Engineering Library in an independent two-story mass. Site development includes a new campus green that weaves the Friend Center into its setting, with circulation paths converging at the entrance to the building's main lobby. Flowering plants and bosques of trees create a colorful buffer to the adjacent residential neighborhood on the north.

The Friend Center's limestone base matches that of the neighboring computer science building and complements the surrounding, generally one-story context. The library is clad in low-E clear insulating glass above, flush with the base along the new campus green to create a presence for the building while taking full advantage of the light and open space afforded. By contrast, the glass volume is set back on the opposite side of the building to minimize impact on nearby houses. Customized horizontal wood blinds create a translucent enclosure that controls natural lighting by day while activating the surroundings with a soft glow at night.

Major Components

Engineering library, state-of-the-art computer atelier, 250-seat lecture hall, offices and classrooms for the Engineering Department; extensive landscaping including 0.8-acre quadrangle and north lawn

Awards

Structural

Leslie E. Robertson Associates, New York, NY

Mechanical / Electrical

Cosentini Associates LLP, New York, NY

Audio / Visual

Acentech Audio Visual, Boston, MA

Landscape

Michael Vergason & Associates, Arlington, VA

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