Tour by Goody Clancy

Another day, another tour. But this one was very special. The project managers and architects retained to do the feasibility study for UMass Boston’s new integrated science building visited the soon to be completed Venture Development Center.

This is a different team than the one which designed the Venture Development Center, which is Sasaki Associates and RDK Engineers.

The tone was set by John Benson, senior program manager at the state’s Division of Capital Asset Management, who said “This is a big bet for the campus.” He said its not hard to envision UMass Boston becoming the dominant campus in the system.

The Venture Development Center represents state-of-the-art in design for research and development, an intensely social activity, according to many on the team. Experience with similar projects at other universities has been positive, according to Chris Cowansage principal of sst planners.

The team thought we struck the right balance between supplied plug and play infrastructure and specialized equipment users would supply.

Benson also said the VDC is a good example of the new model in research and development parks “of” the university versus “at” the university.

The team had never seen video conferencing and broadcasting integrated in a lab, and did not understand why there were two plasma screens in each. We explained this is an advanced feature permitting remote collaboration.

The team also liked that private offices were not integrated into the labs, rather, being adjacent, allowing assignment flexibility. Not all will want an office. The team thought up to six persons could use one of the labs comfortably.

The team was really impressed by the measures taken to reduce energy use with high-efficiency lighting; advanced heating, ventilating, and cooling equipment; and many passive solar features. These will generate savings more than offsetting the cost of operating the facility.

What did they enjoy most of all? The vast expanse of glass and terrace overlooking the harbor. Bernard Dooley, senior associate at Goody Clancy, thought we’d be overwhelmed with people wanting to use the facility.