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EYP's sustainable Loyola Science Center completes at the University of Scranton
The University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, US recently celebrated the dedication of the EYP Architecture & Engineering-designed Loyola Science Center, one of the country’s most innovative science buildings. The Center is the largest capital project in the history of the Jesuit university and the culmination of more than 15 years of planning and preparation.
Built on the ideas of the Project Kaleidoscope, a program spearheaded by the National Science Foundation whose goal is to boost the quality of teaching and learning in the sciences, the Loyola Science Center features formal and informal learning spaces designed to promote discussion and debate.
The Center’s layout provides a physical space that encourages integration among the traditional science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs, as well as the humanities, to drive the development of new teaching methods and engage students in practices that will prepare them for future challenges. Designed to meet LEED Silver certification, the facility also incorporates a dynamic, modern design that includes visible glass-walled laboratories, and is one of a kind in the way it advances collaboration among students with different interests.
George Gomez, Ph.D., associate professor of biology and neuroscience and Project Shepherd of the Loyola Science Center said: “A drastic change in environment, the new facility redefines the concept of a learning space. It is a structure that emphasises human interactions as a critical part of education, a structure that unites the traditionally separate and disparate academic disciplines. This radical change in environment can bring forth new life. It is an exciting time in our University’s history.”
EYP Academic Planning and Design Expert Charles Kirby, AIA, LEED AP, said: “The interdisciplinary Loyola Science Center was designed to create learning environments that foster thinking which transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. We are extremely grateful for the opportunity to share our undergraduate science design expertise with the University of Scranton, and are thrilled with the success of this outstanding, innovative facility.”
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