Tome New Science Building, Dickinson College
Carlisle, Penn.
Ellenzweig Associates, Inc.

The sciences join hands at this well-executed high-tech learning center

© Anton Grassl

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This teaching and research building brings together the departments of physics/astronomy and mathematics/computer science, encouraging interdisciplinary studies while providing a state-of-the-art facility for programs that utilize advanced instructional technology and interactive pedagogic approaches. The two-story building houses teaching and research laboratories, classrooms, and lecture halls, conference and seminar rooms, faculty offices, and a reading room/library as well as a planetarium and observatory. The facility's specialized physics laboratories and classrooms have been designed to foster the goals of collaborative, "hands-on" learning inherent in the nationally acclaimed "Workshop Physics" model developed at Dickinson College, in which T-shaped benches function alternately for four-student group experiments and shared computer operations, while the central area is designed for group demonstrations.

The L-shaped building plan accommodates the physics/astronomy program spaces in one wing, the math/computer science program spaces in the other, and shared spaces at the intersection of the two. The two wings embrace a private garden space featuring an outdoor classroom.

A local limestone, the predominant campus material, is used on the two public facades facing the campus and stucco is used on the private "garden" sides. The building facade on the street side is modulated to express important program elements: the lecture hall and library are contained in an angled stone-clad form at one end, and the planetarium and observatory at the other, housed in a dramatic metal-clad conical form, contrasting with the rough-hewn stone. The planetarium/observatory element is separated from the main facade by a delicate glass lobby, providing separate access for the public to the planetarium.

Formal name of Project:
Tome New Science Building, Dickinson College

Location:
Carlisle, Penn.

Gross square footage:
48,700 sq. ft.

Total construction cost:
$9.8 million

Owner:
Dickinson College

Architect:
Ellenzweig Associates, Inc.
1280 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone: 617.491.5575
Fax: 617.868.2318
www.ellenzweig.com