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Last year, Oregon State University completed a long-range expansion plan for its Cascades satellite campus in Bend that calls for construction of entirely net-zero-energy structures on a former pumice mine and landfill.

The first major project of that initiative is now in the design stage as SRG Partnership works with Catena Consulting Engineers and construction manager/general contractor Swinerton on a four-story, 50,000-square-foot academic building. A host of green strategies 鈥� including a photovoltaic solar array, an exterior shading system, radiant heating and cooling systems, gray water storage, and other active and passive systems 鈥� are expected to ensure the building produces more energy than it consumes.

鈥淲e’re pretty excited about this project for a variety of reasons,鈥� SRG Partnership principal Carl Hampson said. 鈥淚t’s very aspirational with what the university is trying to do.鈥�

An ambitious master plan calls for construction of dozens of new academic, residential and student life buildings. This first one, dubbed Academic Building 2 for the time being, will be used for science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics education.

Construction will take place on part of a former pumice mine. The site, Hampson said, will eventually serve as a gateway to new campus development along with a future student center planned for an adjacent parcel.

鈥淭hat will be the defining feature of the campus,鈥� he said.

The new academic building will have a rectangular floor plate. It will be oriented east-west, with the longer sides facing north and south to maximize effectiveness of a rooftop solar array.

Roughly half of the ground floor will be embedded below grade because of the slope of the site. That slope, however, has allowed designers to include a large amphitheater with both indoor and outdoor seating divided by a two-story curtain wall system.

鈥淲e’re bringing it inside the building so the landscape and the building become one gesture,鈥� Hampson said. 鈥淧lus the indoor space has quite a bit of flexibility because adjacent to it are two large classrooms that will have partition walls so they can reconfigure that overall space for a variety of uses.鈥�

All four floors will have learning spaces, including specialized classrooms able to accommodate curriculum-specific equipment. Laboratories and engineering spaces are planned, along with maker spaces for art, engineering, computer science and outdoor product programs. Other collaborative, informal spaces will serve both staff and students.

The project is intended to be a model for the rest of the proposed net-zero campus. In part, this flexibility comes from the mass-timber structural elements, which allow for long interior spans and the ability to easily reconfigure interior walls.

鈥淲e’ve laid the building out in a narrow floor plate,鈥� Hampson said. 鈥淲e’ve got 30-foot-deep bays with a central corridor running down the middle and no columns in the bays. That way you can divide that long linear space however you want to move the program inside.鈥�

Structurally, glulam beams and columns are being used along with cross-laminated-timber floor panels. Only the slab-on-grade foundation and shear walls at each corridor’s end will feature concrete so the project’s carbon footprint can be minimized.

鈥淲e looked at different options,鈥� Hampson said. 鈥淲e were looking at them from a cost standpoint and which supported the modular flexible approach, and all of them worked. But the mass timber made the most sense. The erection time is less than steel, so there’s cost benefit there. But the biggest benefit is all of this wood expressed on the interior.鈥�

One final unique element is the building’s core. It contains elevators, mechanical systems and restrooms.

鈥淲e’ve centralized everything in one location so it simplifies distribution of systems and creates an order that can be then replicated,鈥� Hampson said.

On the exterior, a series of vertically oriented metal panels will provide shade to large windows that will stretch from low-slung sills to the underside of the deck on each floor. Central Oregon’s climate influenced this choice.

鈥淚t’s much colder in the winter, but because of the functions in the building there are lab spaces and such that generate heat,鈥� Hampson said. 鈥淭he cooling loads will put more of a strain on this building, so we’re making sure to maximize the daylight in here. But we’ve organized the patterning to minimize the excess heat gain and created some solar advantages with the metal panel on the window.鈥�

Ground has not been broken yet; however, project literature lists fall 2021 as the target to open the building.

鈥淚t’s a very dynamic building,鈥� Hampson said. 鈥淏ut also from a cost standpoint, given the challenges of net zero and building on the edge of a mine and the sloping site, I think we’ve come up with a very strong solution that balances all the elements.鈥�

On the Boards is a 91视频 feature offering a look at the projects in Oregon being tackled by local architecture firms. To have your firm’s projects considered, send an email to [email protected].