F.W. Olin Science Center and Science Library

Undergraduate teaching labs include field biology, environmental biology and plant biology labs designed to support extensive field work and data analysis. Other facility elements include: three faculty/student research labs, a computer graphics center, faculty offices, a herbarium and aquarium, a 30-seat classroom, a seminar room and group study areas. The research greenhouse, with frog/lily pond, is located at the south side of level three facing the Quadrangle.

Corridors and public space inside the facility clarify and organize the building's complex mix of programs and encourage interaction among the science and campus community. Corridors are programmed with study and display alcoves (including two large aquariums), seating and meeting space.

At the west end of the Science Center, a two-story bridge connects?at the second and third levels?to the existing Arey Biology/Chemistry Building. This space is also programmed with five faculty offices, a conference room with kitchen and common spaces to encourage informal student/faculty interaction.

The connecting 11,000-sf Science Library is designed flexibly to accommodate changes for future technology programs.

Project Information

Building Owner:

Colby College

Owner Contact:

Alan D. Lewis, Director of Physical Plant

Building Location:

Waterville, ME UNITED STATES

Project Type:

New Construction

Principal Building Function:

Biology Teaching and Research

Project Delivery Method:

General Contractor

Project Timeline

Apr 1994	Planning Start
Jul 1994	Design Start
Apr 1995	Construction Start
Aug 1996	Completion
Last known status: Completed

Project Cost:

$6,500,000

Construction Cost:

$5,600,000

Cost Per Sq. Ft:

$122

About These Cost Figures

Building Information

Project Includes:

Aquarium
Biology
Computers
Education: Classroom
Education: Faculty Office
Education: Lecture Or Seminar Hall
Greenhouse
Laboratory: Research
Laboratory: Teaching
Life Sciences

Total GSF:

46,000

Total NSF:

33,000

Efficiency:

72%

Building Population:

400

People Density:

115 gsf/person

Building Services:

Natural gas

Office Size:

200 NSF

Power Req:

16 watts/nsf

HVAC Req:

lcfm/nsf

Structure/Foundation:

Braced steel frame on foundation with spread footings

Laboratory Parameters

Lab Module:

10' x 20'

Casework Mat'l:

Wood, custom, epoxy

Fume Hoods:

12: 5? teaching hoods

Project Team

Architect

Shepley Bulfinch

Consultant - MEP Engineer

MacRitchie Engineering, Inc.

Contractor

H.P. Cummings Construction Company

Supplier - Building Automation Controls

Johnson Controls Inc.

Supplier - Fume Hoods

Fisher Hamilton

Supplier - HVAC

Trane Company

Profile Created 08/01/1996

Last Updated 04/04/2006

About the Reported Cost Figures

The cost figures reported are supplied by the firms that submitted these projects for publication, which in most cases are the designers or builders. Whereas these sources are intimately familiar with their projects, they may not be fully aware of the owners' finally-realized and recorded costs. In some cases, costs are truly and completely accounted for, and in others they represent a near approximation of the final costs. Costs have not been adjusted for year of construction, nor has any attempt been made to make regional cost adjustments.

Further, costs are not comparable on any kind of detailed standard costing model. Hence, it is possible for the cost of one building to include a steam boiler, while the cost of a comparable building might not include the boiler, if steam is being supplied from an already existing campus grid. Or, in another case, a building might include excess boiler capacity to supply steam to another building. Some submittals include fees or unusual site improvements as part of the construction costs, which others do not.

Fig. 1

Floorplan

Fig. 2

Exterior