Architecture and design practice Brooks + Scarpa has announced that the new Ramos Collaboratory Building for the University of Florida’s School of Design Construction and Planning has broken ground. This extension will add nearly 50,000 square feet (4,600 square meters) of educational spaces to the existing college, which is also undergoing significant remodeling. The new building will include reconfigurable, multi-functional spaces where the students, faculty, and staff can collaborate both formally and informally. The building is anticipated to be completed in early 2025.
One of the main functions of the new building relays on Research Hubs, which will house all the DCP research centers and institutes within the College of Design Construction and Planning. These spaces will facilitate collaboration between graduate students and faculty members and will allow them to undertake high-impact research projects that address critical societal challenges.
Integrated within the building are Digital Modelling and Fabrication Spaces, designed to enable students to work collaboratively across many disciplines to develop digital models, simulations, and 3D printed models. Large-scale facilities for geospatial modeling and simulation, as well as a virtual reality lab, will also be contained in this space. A multipurpose room will be able to accommodate up to 200 audience members, while seminar rooms complete the educational structure of the new development.
The shape of the building takes into consideration the multiple paths linking various campus buildings. By allowing free circulation to flow through the building at ground floor level, the development acts as a connector, and not an obstacle in the dynamic of the existing campus. The Collaboratory building also includes a number of design adaptations to improve energy efficiency and sustainability. Skylights provide natural daylight through the building to the ground floor, photovoltaic panels provide additional energy, and natural ventilation is optimized through a system that adapts to the outside weather.
The landscaping surrounding the new building also adopts sustainable principles. A bioswale along one of the roads filters and treats stormwater and serves as a pollinator garden. Heritage trees were preserved within the intervention. The “gator pond” was also restored and surrounded with a 50-foot buffer natural edge to provide filtration of fertilizers and other pollutants. Perennial peanut lawn replaces the sod turf to better adapt to the local climate and reduce maintenance. Permeable pathways are connecting the natural areas and provide access to an enjoyable natural environment for students and faculty staff.
Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale-based design office Brooks + Scarpa have recently been awarded the 2022 National AIA Gold Medal. They have also recently unveiled designs for a new complex for the Ministry of Environment Water and Agriculture (MEWA) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and a Quantum Computing Lab in California, currently under construction.
