August 9, 2010

DIAMOND + SCHMITT ARCHITECTS

A new student centre at New Mexico Highlands University will act as a gateway to the Las Vegas campus.

Diamond + Schmitt Architects starts second New Mexico job

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

staff writer

New Mexico Highlands University has broken ground at its Las Vegas, N.M. campus on a new student union building designed by Diamond + Schmitt Architects of Toronto in joint venture with Studio Southwest of Albuquerque.

Scheduled for completion in December 2011, the three-storey, 65,000-square-foot facility is organized around a central atrium and sheltered outdoor courtyard.

The ground floor houses a ballroom/conference facility, bookstore, café, theatre and post office. The upper floors include lounges, a games room, computer lab, student service offices and meeting rooms.

Occupying a central position in the composition is a student government room that “floats” within the atrium space, bridging both wings of the new building.

The facility will act as a gateway to the campus.

“The design is a contemporary expression of the character and landscape of the campus,” said Donald Schmitt, a principal of Diamond + Schmitt.

The building is being constructed by Makwa Builders of Albuquerque.

Architecturally, stone “defines” the building base. Energy-efficient glazing is carefully placed to maximize daylighting for the main public spaces.

The third floor is set back under large extending roof planes, reducing the overall scale of the building and providing shade and covered terraces. Green roofs to the north provide rooftop assembly areas.

Sustainable design features include geothermal energy, architectural shading of south-facing glass by metal sunshades, high insulation roof and wall assembly values, high efficiency lighting, water harvesting and renewable wood sourcing.

LEED Silver is being targeted.

Martin Davidson, also a principal in Diamond + Schmitt, said one of the key design challenges involved “mediating” between the historic residential neighbourhood and the institutional university precinct.

“We addressed this by making the student union accessible and transparent in a way that will engage the wider community.”

Full-height glazing makes the lobby visible to the community at large.

Highlands University president Jim Fries said the student centre will be a “striking” gateway to the campus. The building is scheduled to open its doors in conjunction with the spring semester 2012.

Diamond + Schmitt previously designed the 48,000-square-foot health sciences building at the Sante Fe Community College in New Mexico.

Designed to achieve LEED Gold, the US$14 million facility features a 20-foot by 17-foot living wall biofilter, reportedly the first of its kind on an American campus.

The firm’s academic portfolio includes numerous buildings in both Canada and the United States.

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