Smithsonian Institution exhibition to include design of Syracuse Center of Excellence headquarters building

Smithsonian Institution exhibition to include design of Syracuse Center of Excellence headquarters buildingDecember 08, 2006Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

The design of the headquarters building for the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems (Syracuse CoE) has been selected for inclusion in the “National Design Triennial,” a major exhibition organized by the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.

A model and renderings of the building will be included in the exhibition, which opened Friday and runs through July 29, 2007, at the museum, located at 2 E. 91st St. in New York City. The Syracuse CoE is one of about 15 building designs selected for the exhibition.

The National Design Triennial is an ongoing exhibition series at Cooper-Hewitt. Inaugurated in 2000, the triennial seeks out and presents the most innovative American designs from the prior three years in a variety of fields, including product design, architecture, furniture, film, graphics, new technologies, animation, science, medicine and fashion. The works of 87 designers and firms will be on view throughout the museum campus.

“We are honored that the Smithsonian’s National Design Museum has selected the Syracuse CoE’s headquarters building as part of its Design Triennial 2006 exhibition,” says Syracuse University Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor. “The Syracuse area and Central New York have an extraordinary record of creative accomplishments in design, art and technology. All three of these strengths are evident in the form and function of the Syracuse CoE’s headquarters building. The inclusion of this iconic building in a major national exhibition will help to draw attention to the talent and innovation available in the Syracuse CoE and throughout the region.”

A team of firms led by Ashley-McGraw Architects of Syracuse developed the design of the Syracuse CoE headquarters building. Toshiko Mori Architect, of New York City, is the design architect for the team. The design effort included contributions by individuals from 11 different firms.

“Our design for the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems is both an embodiment of the research advanced by the center and the larger sustainability movement,” says Toshiko Mori. “Through an integrated approach, the design team shaped the building’s form, materiality, performance and siting to achieve this aim. Through this strategy, the building will serve as both a didactic tool for sustainable design and a living lab for future research. This building thus becomes a declaration of the center’s mission to share this vital knowledge with the city of Syracuse and the greater building community.”

“We envision that the new facility will be a beacon seen around the world, attracting international attention to new technologies developed by local firms,” says David Ashley, director of environmental design at Ashley-McGraw. “We expect that the benefits to the region will include growth of employment and also adoption of practices that promote redevelopment and sustainability of urban areas.”

Edward Bogucz, executive director of the Syracuse CoE, says the demand for innovations in “green” technologies is rising dramatically across the county and around the world. “Partners in the Syracuse CoE are becoming recognized as leaders in creating innovations that improve human health and performance while also reducing the impact of human activities on the global climate,” Bogucz says. “Our headquarters will serve as both a laboratory and a showcase for new products and services developed by our partners. We are thrilled that even before construction of our headquarters is completed, the facility is already earning recognition for excellence by being included in a major national design exhibition.”

The 63,000-square-foot Syracuse CoE headquarters building, now under construction on a three-acre campus at the corner of East Washington and Almond streets in downtown Syracuse, will include spaces for collaboration among Syracuse CoE partners in research, development, education and public outreach. Among the building’s features are the Carrier Total Indoor Environmental Quality (TIEQ) Laboratory, a unique facility in which researchers will study how multiple factors — including temperature, humidity, air quality, lighting and sound — combine to affect human health and performance in built environments; laboratories for research and development of new fuels and products from biomass; an “Urban Ecosystem Observatory,” a 250-foot tower from which measurements of outdoor air quality will be taken at multiple elevations for studies including the impact of buildings on urban ecosystems; and a “green” roof, which will reduce stormwater runoff and reduce the heat reflected back into the environment.

Other members of the design team are Ove Arup and Partners of New York City, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and structural engineering; Transsolar Energietechnick of Stuttgart, Germany, climate engineering; Burt Hill of Butler, Pa., lab planning and programming; Hargreaves Associates of New York City, landscape architect; Stearns & Wheler of Cazenovia, civil engineering; O’Brien & Gere of Syracuse, environmental engineering; John P. Stopen Engineering Partnership of Syracuse, geotechnical engineering; Peterson Engineering of Syracuse, elevator and special engineering; and the C&S Companies of Syracuse, commissioning agent.

The Syracuse CoE is a federation of more than 70 firms and institutions that collaborate to create innovations to improve built and urban environments. Partners in the Syracuse CoE collaborate in research, development and education projects relating to clean and renewable energy, indoor environmental quality, human health and performance, healthy buildings and water resources. For more information, visit http://www.syracusecoe.org.