Description
The Engineering Research Center is centrally located on the premises of the University of Cincinnati at the end of University Avenue (the eastern main access). To the west, the site borders onto Rhodes Hall, which belongs to the engineering faculty. To the north, a representative outside staircase extends to an upper level plaza, the university library, and an auditorium.
An axis connecting University Place, the main entrance, an inner staircase, and the upper plaza runs at right angles through the building. At the end of this axis, a two-storey bridge links the centre to the main buildings of the engineering faculty.
A consequent zoning and stacking of the complex’ main functions in plan and elevation strictly follows economical considerations and typological criteria. The upper floors comprise a rectangular core zone with highly equipped dry and wet laboratories. Naturally lit standard offices are arranged along the main façades. Shared spaces like lecture hall and seminar rooms are located at the northern gable end. Further office and conference spaces are located near the main entrance.
The rational arrangement of the functions is combined with a poignant sculptural exterior of the building that is expressed strongest in the south and north elevations. A barrel roof with oversized exhaust pipes above the plant room dominates the façades. The main elevation to the east is characterised by the large-scale massing through building-high oriels and a protruding symmetrical six-storey volume featuring the main entrance.
The façades with punch windows received a cladding of terracotta and ochre-coloured facing brick with applications of cast stone. The partly vaulted and partly cuboid roof above the plant room – which leaves sufficient room for supplementary installations in the future – and the large air exhaust and intake ”chimneys” are clad in copper.
The architectural language directly refers to the existing context on the university premises. It combines sturdy monumentality with delicate detailing in timber, brick and clinker, which gives the complex its individual character and reflects the artchitects’ and the client’s affiliation to historic examples.
Drawings
Site plan
Schematic sketch of building
Ground floor
East-west section through loggia, entrance hall and bridge
Photos
View from the northwest: A bridge links the research area to the engineering faculty
Entrance staircase to the first floor
Originally published in: Hardo Braun, Dieter Grömling, Research and Technology Buildings: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2005.