Title: Grinnell College Humanities and Social Studies Center
Location of Proejct: Grinnell, IA
Project Completion Date: December 2020
Firm Name: EYP

Short Description: The new Humanities and Social Studies Complex unifies two historic landmark buildings with a new addition, to create an immersive environment for multi-disciplinary collaboration, active inquiry and “intellectual collisions,” combining fifteen departments. The boldly contrasting modern and historic styles reflect the old and new pedagogies. The midwestern prairie, its ecosystem, and ideas influenced by the “edge effect” of an ecotone — a space that is exponentially more productive than either community on its own — served as the team’s design inspiration. The project meets Grinnell’s mission of social responsibility as well as the AIA2030 challenge, with a 77% EUI savings.

Architect's Statement: Grinnell College’s Humanities and Social Studies Center features four pavilions – two new and two renovated – joined by a three-story atrium with connecting bridges. The complex embraces the 1917 Alumni Recitation Hall and the 1905 Carnegie library (now Carnegie Hall). The project creates a central, light-filled courtyard that looks toward the future of liberal arts education while respecting the heritage of Grinnell’s treasured landmarks.

The expansive central atrium is anchored by Alumni Recitation Hall’s east façade, now an interior element, and its focal point tower is washed in light by the skylight above. Radiating from this point are forty state-of-the-art teaching and learning spaces attuned to emerging research, technology, and collaboration. Student and faculty interactions occur in the transition zones between neighborhoods and pavilions in the atrium and smaller informal learning areas. A mixed exterior palette of brick, cast stone, granite, copper, aluminum, and glass distinguishes the modern pavilions from their renovated counterparts.

A rethinking of teaching and research in non-STEM fields, the design is influenced by research and best practices on discovery-based learning and collaboration spaces. Within the four pavilions, spaces are organized into neighborhoods by shared intellectual interests to enable cross-department interactions. Open and semi-private informal spaces foster effective intellectual collisions to extend learning beyond the classroom.

Creating these collisions necessitates literal integration of the four pavilions via the atrium. Maximizing daylight in the atrium and pavilions promotes wellness and creates welcoming spaces for students and staff. Aesthetic elements serve an integrated purpose; for instance, the wood slat railing systems provide sound absorption for acoustic comfort. Glazing performance, along with localized heat, enables the building to achieve thermal comfort without sacrificing energy performance. Site elements reflect the prairie surroundings while incorporating bio-retention and geothermal energy. The project meets AIA 2030 goals and delivers an aesthetic experience routed in intellectual discovery.

Social responsibility - the idea that an individual action at the local level can have a profound effect on the global community - is key to Grinnell’s mission. The design is inspired by the “edge effect” concept which occurs within ecotones, or the transition zones between two ecosystems. Public spaces seek to replicate these transition zones in neighborhoods, pavilions, and the atrium, to create opportunities for collaboration and allow the humanities’ departments to advance research in social issues.

Social responsibility also extends to the project’s impact on its surroundings. The project reused two existing buildings and incorporated rainwater and daylight harvesting. Resource conservation is fiscally responsible in addition to sustainable – energy conservation measures were estimated to save the College over $230,000 per year. By pursing energy savings incentives from their provider, the College achieved a 1.6-year payback period on the upgraded building performance.

The project design delivered a Predicted Energy Use Intensity of 28 kBtu/sf/yr, which is 77% lower than the AIA 2030 Baseline. Energy conservation measures included ground-coupled heat recovery chillers, demand control ventilation, variable frequency drives, chilled beams, total energy recovery, daylighting controls, and LED lighting. Beyond energy, the project conserved resources by reusing and modernizing two classroom buildings. Daylight was maximized throughout the project, and 51% of regularly occupied spaces have daylight responsive controls to provide occupants with ideal lighting levels for work and study. The project’s indoor water use was significantly reduced through efficient fixtures and a 30,000-gallon rainwater collection cistern, harvesting 75% of the rainwater falling on new roof area to serve toilets and urinals inside the building. The remaining 25% of rainwater is addressed with bio-retention rain gardens surrounding the complex, and green roofs complete the management system.