By DIANA SMITH ’98, media relations
coordinator
The Tutt Science Center, a 51,000-square-foot complex of labs and smart classrooms, will house environmental science, psychology, geology, neuroscience, and mathematics. Designed by internationally known architectural firm Moore Ruble Yudell of Santa Monica, Calif., the new science building will expand opportunities for hands-on collaborative research and student-faculty interaction, which are already benchmarks of a Colorado College education.
In addition to 15 new classrooms, 12 faculty offices, and state-of-the-art laboratories and technology, the building will offer instrumentation rooms for X-ray, microscopy, image analysis, and a rock preparation suite for geology, as well as computer labs for mathematics and development, observation, and neuroscience labs for psychology.
The recently completed Campaign for Colorado College included raising funds to build the new science center. El Pomar Foundation made a $5 million leadership gift for the center in honor of Russell T. Tutt, long-time head of El Pomar who also chaired Colorado College’s board from 1966 to 1984. More than 300 other donors also gave to the campaign specifically for the new facility.
Scheduled to be completed by July 2003, the Tutt Science Center is undergoing redesign. At a September meeting, executive architect Martha Bennett from Bennett Wagner Grody (BWG) presented a new schematic design.
The current design includes a high-ceiling lobby area for the three-story building, an adjacent lecture hall and coffee service. To be located northwest of Barnes Science Building, the new science center will also provide spaces for the college community to gather, interact, and explore the natural world, while freeing space in Palmer Hall for other disciplines to expand and rearrange their space for the most effective teaching.
The exterior architecture remains essentially the same as the previous design. “It will be brick, with extensive glass and metal in the central lobby area [providing views to the mountains] and on the stairways at either end of the building,” says Bennett. “The architects believe the brick will fit in well with the same material used in nearby Barnes, and they are also seeking a color mix that will be similar to the sandstone of Palmer Hall to help define the new quadrangle north of Palmer.”
“The Tutt Science Center Building Committee will continue to consider refinement of the design from the architects for the exterior materials, landscaping, sidewalks, and lighting to ensure the building fits in with the Campus Master Plan,” notes Tom Nycum, vice president for business and finance at CC.
“Green” features will make the building environmentally friendly and ecologically sound. In fact, the building will meet the Leadership in Energy Efficient Design (LEED) criteria. LEED — which looks at several dozen criteria, including site selection, recycling of waste materials during construction, some use of recycled materials, meeting levels of energy efficiency, and even installing bike racks — is one of the most widely recognized national programs for certifying “green” buildings.
The environmental science faculty and Physical Plant staff have been working to add an interesting design twist. “We hope to build various sensors and detectors into the building. These will allow occupants and students to monitor energy usage in the building on a daily, monthly, or annual basis,” explains geology professor and program committee chair Jeff Noblett. “The building itself would serve as a laboratory for environmental science students.”
The college’s commitment to the new science complex corresponds with the steady growth in the number of students majoring in science. In the last academic year, 31 percent of all degrees awarded were in the sciences. In the past decade, enrollments in geology courses have increased by 36 percent, and the new environmental science program has attracted 38 majors in just two years.