Title: Fitts - Woolard Hall
Location of Proejct: Raleigh, NC
Project Completion Date: 2021
Firm Name: Clark Nexsen

Short Description: The design of the new Fitts-Woolard Hall at NCSU is driven by a commitment to “Engineering on Display”. Transparent research and instructional spaces are organized along a primary path that allows students and visitors to experience the cutting-edge research and education occurring within. Daylit wood walls and structurally expressive stairs orient occupants along the path and bring daylight deep into the large floorplates. Layers of transparency provide visual connections both internally and to the surrounding campus. Throughout the facility, structural elements and building systems are revealed as an additional instructional tool for the engineering disciplines that occupy the building.

Architect's Statement: As one of the nation’s premier engineering schools, NC State University is a powerful driver of economic impact in North Carolina and beyond. Located on NCSU’s Centennial Campus, the design of Fitts-Woolard Hall reflects the campus’ vision to be a destination for collaboration between leaders in business, research, and education. Throughout the four-story facility, high degrees of transparency create a light-filled, vibrant academic research environment.

Engineering on Display

The design of the new Fitts-Woolard Hall at NCSU is driven by a commitment to “Engineering on Display.” Transparent research and instructional spaces are organized along a primary path that allows students and visitors to experience the cutting-edge research and education occurring within.

Designed to promote multidisciplinary collaboration and interaction, the highly transparent structure leverages extensive internal and external glazing to put engineering on display. Featuring light-filled atriums, structurally expressive monumental stairs, and exposed building systems, the facility includes a structural testing lab, a large-scale driving simulator, computational labs, and space for senior student projects. Fitts-Woolard Hall accommodates programs in advanced manufacturing, bioengineering, ergonomics, environmental engineering, robotics and sensor technologies, and transportation and logistics, as well as offering exceptional flexibility to meet future needs.

Together, Fitts-Woolard Hall’s emphasis on transparency, views into dynamic teaching and research labs, and abundant spaces for collaboration converge to deliver a facility that will positively impact students and faculty for years to come. The result is a facility that allows students, faculty, and visitors to experience the activity within its research and learning spaces.

Building as a Learning Tool

The commitment to the “on display” design strategy is evident beyond education and research labs. Throughout the facility, structural elements and building systems are revealed as an additional instructional tool. Curated exhibit panels provide additional details and information about each of the building components as students circulate through the building. Interactive display panels allow occupants to view building system energy usage in real time. Site elements are designed to reveal storm water strategies that mimic the hydraulic characteristics of a natural stream.

Architectural Bridge

Fitts-Woolard Hall is positioned at an important intersection on NC State University’s Centennial Campus. The site slopes 28’ from the high point at the northeast to the low point at the southwest. This sloped site provided an opportunity to bring pedestrians into the building to use it as a transition from the Oval at the high point down to the All Campus Path that extends to the western side of campus.

The site is also an important transition point architecturally. The existing engineering buildings to the north of Fitts-Woolard are characterized by traditional red brick facades with punched openings for windows. To the south is the iconic James B Hunt Jr Library, constructed almost entirely of glass and aluminum curtainwall with vertical solar shading fins on the east and west facades. Fitts-Woolard was conceived of as an “architectural bridge” that could weave these disparate buildings together into a cohesive group. It draws from the existing engineering buildings by using masonry and punched openings, while manipulating these characteristics similar to Hunt Library’s dynamic machined façade. It also draws from Hunt Library through the use of expansive glazing, aluminum metal panels, and vertical solar fins.

Materials

Exterior
Brick masonry – horizontal running bond
Brick masonry – vertical stack bond
Low-E insulated glazing
Aluminum curtainwall
Aluminum solar shades
Aluminum metal panels
Concrete and wood site benches

Interior
Terrazzo flooring
Blackened structural steel stairs
Acoustic wood walls
Frameless glass walls
Felt walls and ceilings