Building for the future

by Nick Tshilis

It's an impressive sight on the Inner Loop -- workers climbing up and down scaffolds and running heavy machinery. You can hardly walk to class without hearing the sounds of construction. Cranes dominate the skyline, and the site seems to generate more noise than Sid Richardson College on Friday afternoons. Over the next few months, the skeleton we see now will take shape as new classrooms, labs and offices. Meanwhile, two other construction sites will join it.

The major points where construction is occurring, or where it soon will be, are next to the Engineering Quadrangle at the site of the new Computational Engineering Building, on the Inner Loop between Herring Hall and Alice Pratt Brown Hall at the future home of the Baker Institute for Public Policy, and in the area between Anderson Biological Laboratories and the Keith-Wiess Geological Laboratories, which will be the site of the new nanotechnology building.

Computational Engineering Building

Construction of the CEB began in January 1994, and it is scheduled for completion in July 1996, which would make it ready for use next fall. Despite early foundation problems, construction is proceeding right on schedule, according to Bill Tomlinson of Facilities and Engineering. The western half of the building is being erected first, and the superstructure on that side is nearly complete. After the eastern half is built, precast concrete pieces of the outer structure will be put into place; the skin should be complete by the end of December. The final structure will be four stories tall with the top floor being used as an attic.

The architecture and design of the CEB is a far cry from the other buildings on campus. The building will be faced in five different colors of brick, each of which has already been used on other campus buildings, layered in horizontal strata. The concrete columns on the exterior will be topped by black capitals. On top of the capitals, blue concrete "logs" will be housed in green concrete saddles. Finally, the building will be topped with the traditional Spanish tile roof and a blue copper rain gutter.

Baker Institute

Construction on the future home of the Baker Institute for Public Policy, which now has its offices on the first floor of Fondren Library, is scheduled to begin in December (over a year after last October's groundbreaking ceremonies), and the building is scheduled to be ready for occupancy in February 1997, according to John Posch of F&E. The designs have been approved, and a contractor has been chosen. Expect more noise, confusion and dirt from that area of the campus soon.

Nanotechnology Building

The only other definite project in store is the nanotechnology building, which will be named Dell Butcher Hall. (The present Butcher Hall will be renamed.) Contractors began bidding for this job on May 3, 1995. Fundraising activities have already begun, and the project already has the Board of Governors' approval. With the building slated for completion in July 1997, the chemistry teaching labs should be ready for the 1997 fall semester.

This building promises to be a treat to the eye rivaling the CEB. According to Bill Mack of F&E, the final structure will be in a U-shape that spirals around a central courtyard, starting with one level on one end and rising up to four levels on the other. The building will be faced with brick and limestone and capped off with a copper roof instead of the Spanish tile which is used on many campus edifices.

The new building will house chemistry teaching labs, research labs and a 100-seat lecture hall. Most of the Chemistry Department will relocate to the adjacent Space Sciences Building, displacing the Space Physics Department to Herman Brown Hall.

The Future

It seems sure that this won't be the last of the construction either. Fondren Library is due for more space and a major renovation. Plans for that are already in the works. When the Chemistry Department vacates what is now called Butcher Hall, the building will be remodeled for library or humanities use. There may also be additions to the Student Center.

The new buildings' architects -- John Outram for the CEB, Anton Predock for the nanotechnology building and Thomas Beeby for the Baker Institute -- mark a move on the part of the Board of Governors toward more well-known architects for Rice buildings. That trend started with the selection of Cesar Pelli for the 1983 campus general plan. The results have been mixed. Pelli's Herring Hall gained national recognition; George R. Brown Hall and Alice Pratt Brown Hall are considerably less distinguished.

Outram and Predock are both known for being innovative, and the buildings reflect that. Beeby is considerably more conservative, and the rather staid and unimaginative Baker building follows in that pattern.

Time will tell how the new buildings turn out. One thing is for certain, though: For the next few years, Rice will be an interesting place for armchair architects.

This item appeared in the Features section of the November 3, 1995 issue.

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