WEST HAVEN, Conn. — The University of New Haven recently celebrated a milestone in the construction of its new Bergami Center for Science, Technology, and Innovation.

The state-of-the-art facility, scheduled to open in early 2020, will house engineering and science labs, technologically advanced collaborative classrooms, video production studios, an atrium/café, and space for multidisciplinary student and faculty collaboration.

A topping-off ceremony recently marked the hoisting of the final beam for the Bergami Center for Science, Technology, and Innovation, signifying the near-completion of the world-class facility that will enable students to take their pioneering work to an even higher level.

“By creating this space, we are strengthening our commitment to educating the world’s next generation of problem solvers and preparing them to excel in the careers of the future,” said University of New Haven President Steve Kaplan. “Ultimately, we have no greater charge than this.”

The 40,000-square-foot facility is the centerpiece of the university’s Charger Challenge: the campaign for the University of New Haven, which endeavors to raise $100 million before 2020 to invest in student scholarships and the university’s culture of innovation.

The center is being named in honor of longtime university benefactors Samuel S. Bergami Jr. ’85 EMBA and Lois Bergami who ceremoniously signed the final beam that was hoisted and secured into place – topped with a tree for good luck.

“Founded nearly 100 years ago to meet the engineering and business needs of the region, the university now offers innovative and cutting-edge programs – such as cybersecurity, national security, data science, and biomedical engineering – that prepare our students for the careers of the future,” said Kaplan.

The facility is being built adjacent to Buckman Hall which houses the Tagliatela College of Engineering. It will serve as a primary point of contact for students from across the university interested in innovation and entrepreneurship. The building will be designed to help draw together resources from across the campus and to serve as a common space for students to develop and test ideas alongside their peers with mentorship from faculty, alumni, and corporate partners.

A central focus of the facility’s makerspace is providing tools and resources that enable students from across the university to work with industry partners to create prototypes of new ideas and innovative products.

More than one-third of building is “open space” that will foster idea exchange and teamwork. Instead of traditional faculty offices, it will feature co-working space to foster collaboration.

Designed by Svigals + Partners, this interdisciplinary building will serve as a central hub of activity between all of the University’s departments. At the heart of the Innovation Center is an atrium where students and administrators can gather together and collaborate.

“This building’s state-of-the-art science learning spaces, its technologically advanced ‘smart’ classrooms, and all of its additional pioneering features will provide an exceptional environment for our students to learn, create, and collaborate with each other,” said Kaplan. “Most importantly, it will provide even more opportunities for our students to develop the same forward-thinking mindset that Sam has demonstrated throughout his distinguished career. I am most grateful for Sam and Lois’s support, which is making this important initiative a reality.”

The post University of New Haven Reaches Milestone in Bergami Center Build appeared first on School Construction News.

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — Silverman Trykowski Associates, a design-driven architecture and interior design firm based in Boston, is credited with designing the newly opened Global Center for Cleantech Innovation.

The 56,000-square-foot Global Center is part of the Greentown Labs urban campus in Somerville, Mass. The center is a rehabilitated 100-year-old industrial building that was originally built for the American Tube Works Company that produced seamless brass and copper tubes for locomotive, marine, and stationary boilers. Silverman Trykowski Associates transformed the brick and steel building to house modern-day makerspaces for the next generation of groundbreaking technologies—a proverbial bridging of 1900’s energy-producing innovations with 2000’s world-changing cleantech innovations.

The $15 million project is a sustainably built facility that has more than doubled the Greentown Labs footprint to a combined total of 100,000 square feet of innovation space. Greentown is currently home of nearly 100 cleantech member companies.

“The Commonwealth’s innovation economy is thriving because of entrepreneurs like the ones that will be supported by this newly renovated and expanded facility,” said Gov. Charlie Baker.

Silverman Trykowski Associates and Greentown Labs have been partners since 2010 when Greentown was established. They have relied on the 13-person architecture and interior design firm through the years to create an urban campus that includes communal resources for their entrepreneurs, such as a state-of-the-art machine shop and electronics lab.

“Silverman Trykowski Associates are fantastic community-makers who have an amazing way of transforming industrial spaces into warm, welcoming, collaborative spaces to encourage and facilitate innovation that will affect the world,” said Dr. Emily Reichert, CEO of Greentown Labs. “They’ve done an incredible job and have been a valuable strategic partner for Greentown Labs and our members.”

About Silverman Trykowski Associates (STA Design)

STA is a dynamic architecture and interior design firm that solves problems, initiates social progress, and humanizes environments. Founded in 1996, STA designs well-formed environments that are the result of well-informed clients ranging from cleantech to robotics, childcare to healthcare, and workspaces to workout places. More info at
www.sta-design.com.

About Greentown Labs

The Greentown Labs Global Center for Cleantech Innovation is the largest cleantech incubator in the United States. Its mission is to enable a vibrant community of startups to realize their visions by providing access to the resources, labs, and funding they need to thrive. More info at www.greentownlabs.com.

The post Greentown Labs Opens Global Center for Cleantech Innovation appeared first on School Construction News.