An addition to the Veterinary Clinical Sciences Building at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.
As part of the expansion of the University, and in service to the specific needs of the College of Veterinary Medicine, the architects were commissioned not only to up-grade the existing teaching animal hospital but also project a faculty offices and clinical services addition.
The original hospital designed and built in the late 70’s projected a hermetic and secure environment for the caring of animals and their well-being. It was designed as a large single simple volume with a red-brick bearing wall structure and limited fenestration at its perimeter.
A heavy-set cast-in-place concrete arch and shell structure marked the building entry for visitors’ automotive and pedestrian access.
In response to an increased need for Faculty Offices and Clinical Services, the University commissioned a design team comprised of a local Architect of Record and a nationally recognized Design Architect to plan both the renovation of the existing Hospital and an addition to the existing facility.
The new addition presents an open and welcoming reception and waiting area for both Visitors and Patients while adding new faculty offices, meeting and lecture spaces, and a private screened courtyard for hospital personnel, veterinarian, staff, visitors and patients.
A purposely detailed cantilevered volume, faculty offices, clad in alternating and offset brick veneer panels and glass window wall sits lightly on a monolithic base, whose brick envelope and narrow windows recall the Hospital’s original hermetic and bearing wall design. The braced steel structure is evident at the building’s exterior and participates in the shared conference rooms placed at the ends of the building's cantilevered volume.
The existing Hospital’s environmental services were substantially upgraded. The new addition was designed in accordance with LEED Silver as consistent with University guidelines for new construction.
A new reinforced steel plate Porte-cochère and translucent polycarbonate canopy links the building entrance to the faculty offices, the entry canopy shades at the North facing glass reception and waiting areas insuring a daytime visual connection from parking lot to building interior, while the well-lit interiors serve at night as a welcome beacon for all.
Credits
Columbus, Ohio
United States
Ohio State University
04/2016
5575 mq
Smith-Miller + Hawkinson Architects LLP (Design Architect)
Laurie Hawkinson, Henry Smith-Miller, Christian Uhl, Hyunchang Cho, Alex Cornhill
Perspectus Architecture (Architect of Record)
Michael Moran
Curriculum
Across the United States and abroad, Smith-Miller + Hawkinson Architects has
designed and built a variety of public and private projects including museums, not-for-profit
cultural facilities, parks, transportation terminals, government facilities, and performing arts
centers. We view each project as an opportunity for design excellence through which we
refine our understanding of practice with each unique set of constraints and conditions.
Projects include US Land Ports of Entry at Champlain and Massena, NY, the Visitor’s Center
and Master Plan for the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY, and The Dillon – an 83-unit
residential building in Midtown Manhattan.
The firm has received numerous awards including the American Academy of Arts and Letters
Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture, the NYC AIA Chapter Medal of Honor, the
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, and a Special Recognition for Excellence
in Design from the New York City.
