Washburn University

As part of Washburn University’s initiative to update its academic program and accommodate increased enrollment, designers addressed significant instruction and instrumentation changes that had occurred since Stoffer Science Hall opened in 1960. The result was a design that combines instruction with hands on research and creates a facility that fosters relationships between students and faculty across all disciplines—ultimately helping to shape the social and academic character of the science departments. Located on a prominent corner of campus, renovation of the existing 61,000 sf building and the creation of an 18,000 sf addition has expanded teaching lab space for the departments of chemistry, physics and biology—providing Washburn students with more opportunities for active participation in the research activities that have become a core component of the university’s science instruction. A series of arcs on the addition’s exterior gently curve around and preserve a grove of mature trees creating a design concept of an addition that is in harmony with and formed by the shape of these surrounding trees.