Tufts Science and Engineering Complex earns IIDA New England Award

We are thrilled to announce the Tufts University Science and Engineering Complex received a 2019 IIDA New England Award in the Research Lab category.

The IIDA New England Design Awards program recognizes design excellence in commercial and residential interior design throughout New England, and celebrates the teamwork required to deliver outstanding design.

The Science and Engineering Complex (SEC) is the product of a strategic infill addition that creates space for interdisciplinary research in biology, environmental science and neuroscience while connecting two historic buildings. The building is comprised of two research lab wings that contain flexible suites on each floor housing a wide array of research and specialized scientific core facilities. In concert with the existing buildings, the two lab wings form an L-shaped atrium that functions as the complex’s social heart.

To bring cohesion and legibility to what would otherwise be a chaotic juxtaposition of old and new, a series of wood portals are strategically located along major circulation routes throughout the complex. The portals stitch together diverse settings while serving as wayfinding devices for building occupants and giving each department a front door. The portals also serve as visual frames linking like-minded programs across the atrium.

On the ground level, public spaces commingle with undergraduate teaching laboratories around a glass atrium, providing a strong visual connection to the upper level research laboratories and putting science on display through a layered approach to transparency.

Collaboration spaces are integrated throughout the complex. At the crossroads of each floor, a central living room serves as meeting and break out space for the adjacent research neighborhoods. The SEC has exceeded expectations as a hive of collaboration for scientific and campus communities. Within the atrium/café, vacant seats are rare, and within surrounding informal learning environments, students and scientists, working in small groups, challenge, inquire and discover.

Congratulations to all the projects that received IIDA New England Awards!