Signature Building Raises Institutional Profile

Community & Collaboration
Over the last decade, Northeastern has become an increasingly strong research university, requiring new facilities to attract world-class researchers. The ISEC is designed to advance the University’s cutting-edge, interdisciplinary approach to global challenges in the areas of sustainability, security and health. The building’s guiding principle is to enable the fortuitous collisions, conversation and collaborations that break down disciplinary divides. It is organized as a community of faculty neighborhoods surrounding the atrium, replete with nooks and lounges for informal conversation and study. A mix of wet labs, dry labs and computational space on each floor supports interdisciplinary research teams creating the materials, products and technologies our future demands.

Design and Performance
Throughout planning and design, we used energy modeling tools to analyze solar heat gain and shape the building for optimum performance. Iterative simulations, employing parametric modeling and custom compositing software, developed the exterior shading system as an integral part of the building’s overall form. The precision of this process allowed mechanical equipment to be tightly sized to handle the greatly reduced heating and cooling loads. Fluid in appearance, the building is rigorously tuned; the shading elements that give it its striking character are essential to its performance.

Photography (c) Keitaro Yoshioka; (c) Ngoc X Doan Photography; (c) Warren Jagger Photography