2021 Directory

24 WYOMING ARCHITECTURE .21 | aia-wyoming.org IMAGE COURTESY OF GSG ARCHITECTURE DIGGING DEEPER n HIGHER EDUCATION The Art of Science Comes Alive in Laramie The University of Wyoming Science Initiative will combine multiple disciplines in one facility for a collaborative approach to research BY JENNIFER SEWARD B iologists, botanists and geologists will be working under the same roof when the new Science Initiative (SI) building opens on the University of Wyoming campus. Designed with strategically placed collab- oration spaces for interdisciplinary research activities, the state-of-the-art facility will transform the way the university investigates and teaches science. The project—with a construction cost of $90 mil- lion—encompasses 153,000 sq ft of classrooms and labs to support two new research centers: the Center for Ad- vanced Scientific Instrumentation and the Center for Integrative Biological Research. In addition, 27,000 sq ft of cutting-edge greenhouse facilities are being con- structed on the roof and will be lit up at night, serving as a beacon for the Laramie community. The Wyoming Legislature approved the Science Initiative project in 2015 and supplied a total of $88 million for the project over two legislative sessions, while the university raised $15million toward the $103-million project. GE Johnson, serving as the construction manager at-risk, is leading the project from its office in Jackson and self-performing the structural concrete, rough car- pentry and excavation, backfilling and grading. GSG Architecture of Casper, Wyo., and Perkins+Will of Se- attle are partnering on the design. A FIRM FOUNDATION The five-story building broke ground in October 2019 and is scheduled for completion in November. It will open to students in February 2022, with shelled space for a vivarium and additional research areas ready for future build-out. GSG has designed 18 projects for UW over the years and recently completed the campus library with Perkins+Will, which “was just coming off of the incred- ible life sciences building at the University of Washing- ton,” says Tim Schenk, GSG senior project architect. BIODIVERSITY The UW Science Initiative will include modern research laboratories and collaboration spaces for faculty-led research teams conducting new and convergent studies in strategic areas of life sciences. enr.com/mountainstates February 15/22, 2021 m ENRMountainStates MS25 MS025_ENR0215_MS_DIGG Wyoming.indd 25 2/8/21 10:59 AM Reprinted courtesy of Engineering Record, copyright BNP Media, February 15/22, 2021, all rights reserved.