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Teaching and Learning has Begun
A
BOORA ARCHITECTS
s the new teaching and learning building moved through schematic design this past
summer, it did so with the help of the HMC community. In particular, three HMC
students worked closely with Boora Architects to seek answers to an important question,
Is it possible to have a highly sustainable, LEED Platinum building on campus?
Studying this question were interns Melissa Strait ’09, Patrick O’Toole ’10 and Samuel
Keene ’11 who worked with Boora Architects, a firm based in Portland, Oregon, that was
chosen to design the new building that will one day replace Thomas–Garrett. The Lead-
ership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System
TM
is
With the teaching and learning building, the architects
a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design,
are seeking to create a new “front door” for those
construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. Platinum buildings meet
visiting and to bridge the invisible line that exists
between the academic and residential areas of
the highest standards related to sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere,
campus. Rendering above depicts the new building
materials and resources and indoor environmental quality.
looking west toward Sprague.
The interns looked at various aspects of sustainable buildings. Strait studied issues of public
transportation and concluded that the local area was deficient in this area, according to
LEED standards. O’Toole modeled transmission of sunlight through windows to find ways

Building Update
to maximize natural light. Keene researched efficient heating and cooling systems and the size
requirements necessary to heat and cool different sized buildings. Besides the sustainability
At the September meetings, the HMC
of the building, the interns modeled the area surrounding Thomas-Garrett so that the archi-
Board of Trustees voted overwhelmingly
tects could later use their findings to determine how well a building design could fit into the in favor of accepting the schematic de-
area. An arborist was brought in to determine which oak trees surrounding Thomas-Garrett sign and moving forward with the next
should be preserved.
phase for the building, design develop-
The student team also provided a voice for the student body, raising such issues as how
ment.
much space different programs like Academic Excellence might need and sharing informa-
• The building will house classrooms,
some faculty offices, performance,
tion like the hours that students tend to work and study.
meeting and display spaces, plus the
During the internship, Strait, O’Toole and Keene lived on campus in Claremont and
offices of admission and financial aid
communicated with Boora weekly through teleconferences and e-mail. They received some
and the president’s office.
assistance from Glumac, a Los Angeles engineering firm specializing in sustainable design,
• Design development is expected to be
who helped the interns learn the jargon of architecture in order to communicate effectively completed by late January 2010.
with architects. At first, the students weren’t quite sure how helpful they could be to Boora. • The building will be approximately
But, according to Keene, “Boora was always really positive with what we were doing.”
70,000 sq. ft., replacing Thomas-
The interns completed their work with a better understanding about what architecture
Garrett’s 9,000 sq. ft.
is—and how it differs from engineering—and the design process for a new building. They sat
• Space plans are also being created to
help determine the use of the space
in on building committee meetings with community members and watched people push and
that will be vacated in other areas of
pull for what they wanted. Keene, who found the politics of the process particularly interest-
campus when the teaching and learn-
ing, was impressed with the way the architects were able to deal with the varying constraints
ing building is completed.
provided by different constituents and to find a compromise.
• The building is scheduled to be com-
During summer, the team traveled to Boora’s Oregon office where they sat in on several pleted in summer 2012, though actual
meetings regarding HMC’s building. They witnessed designs being changed on the spot to timing will depend on receipt of a sig-
address different constraints and objectives. Keene said he enjoyed seeing the evolution of an
nificant gift that will name the building.
idea to a full-fledged schematic and layout of a building.
• The cost of the building is currently
All three students say they have high hopes for the building. O’Toole hopes the final de-
estimated to be about $42 million.
sign will not stray too far from the original goal of having a highly sustainable and efficient
building. He is confident that the building will be well accepted by the community for its
aesthetic value and utility.
—Corrine Cho ’10
FALL/WINTER 2009 Harvey Mudd College 3
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