Ryan Biggs | Clark Davis provided the structural design for this four-story, $18 million, 58,000-gross-square-foot building, which houses the college’s admission and administrative offices. The design incorporates 4,500 square feet of vegetated roof on two levels, a 7,000-square-foot-exterior plaza deck, and a 100-foot-long pedestrian bridge, which provides a direct link to the adjacent Dillingham performing arts building.
The building is steel-framed with wide-flange columns and beams and HSS braces at various locations. The structure makes extensive use of cantilevered beam framing and transfer girders to create large overhangs at floors and the roof. The roof also features a distinctive valley, which cuts diagonally across the rectangular roof to mimic a bird taking flight.
The building implements heat pumps that utilize geothermal heat from 400-foot-deep wells drilled into the subjacent bedrock. The layout of the building space and the large expanses of glazing take advantage of natural light to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the structure.
The building features a large atrium with stunning views of Cayuga Lake to the north. A two-story presentation space is located at the northeast corner of the structure. The building is clad with limestone and zinc panels with dry-stack bluestone veneer walls from grade to the first level.
The project received a LEED Platinum designation from the US Green Building Council.