ISENBERG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT BUSINESS INNOVATION HUB, AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS
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around the site’s existing faculty building in a C-shape, it is hoped that the new amphitheatre-style addition will create a lasting impression for visitors, staff and students alike. Extending from the existing Haigis Mall to the Learning Commons, it is intended that the dramatic triangular entrance way will provide a more welcoming invitation to the facility. Similarly impressive in the daytime, the copious use of glass between the copper sections allows for a significant interaction between the building’s exterior and its interior workings, the glazing allowing views extending almost 360 degrees around the building’s perimeter.
The looped form of the building – which creates a ‘C’ shape – together with this entrance, have now effectively consolidated Isenberg’s faculty and staff under one roof, creating a singular place of arrival and a strong visual identity for the entire Isenberg School of Management. Yu Inamoto, project leader at BIG, explained this further: “The conceptual move to create the building massing and
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space inside the Isenberg Business Innovation Hub was actually a rather simple one – a loop originating from, and connecting to, the existing building, then stretching one point of that volume to create a multi-storey space.”
Going inside Upon entering, students and faculty arrive inside the 5,000 ft2
‘Learning Commons’.
Daylight breaks through to this area from in between the accordion-like pillars to illuminate the multi-storey atrium in the centre of the new addition, where the heart of the business school reportedly “hums with students learning, networking and dining.” This bright and spacious networking area also doubles as an event venue for guest speakers, award ceremonies, banquets and career fairs.
Across the Business Innovation Hub are several spaces such as this one, designed with student interactions, teamwork and chance encounters in mind. Helping facilitate this are soft chairs dotted along the corridors, benches fixed to the grand
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TUMBLING The copper-clad pillars are arranged at progressively lower and lower angles, the final one forming the building’s triangular glazed entrance
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