The UConn Chemistry Building

The Chemistry Building was designed by Centerbrook Architects in Centerbrook, Connecticut. This new 200,000 square foot five-story building is the first of several buildings in the University's new "Technology Quad" envisioned to centralize the science and engineering programs on campus. It was the lead project in the University's $1 billion rebuilding program known as UCONN 2000. The building is the gateway to the new quad and combines modern and traditional building forms with gable roofs. Thus the building shows the influence of a number of buildings in and around the campus - the collegiate Gothic central campus, old New England mills, and adjacent modern laboratories. Built by Walsh Construction of Trumbull, Connecticut, the facility cost $53 million. The first classes were taught in it during the spring of 1999.

The Chemistry Building incorporates nine graduate and undergraduate divisions including analytical, inorganic, organic, physical, polymer, environmental, materials, general chemistry and biological chemistry; and includes research labs for 30 professors and 150 graduate students and post-doctoral researchers. The building has four wings for administration, teaching and research laboratories, and lecture halls and all are linked by a four-story atrium space.

The building also includes:

» An innovative outreach center for bringing chemistry education to the public.
» Multi-media capabilities in all classrooms and lecture halls.
» State-of-the-art safety features in both teaching and research environments.
» Networked laboratories, classrooms and offices.
» Energy efficient design that uses heat recovery systems, digital control system, advanced fume hood controls, daylight dimming systems, and energy efficient lighting.
» 65 Research laboratories.
» 19 Undergraduate teaching laboratories.
» Computer and multimedia laboratories.
» Classrooms.
» NMR and laser facilities.
» Reading rooms and lounges.
» Large lecture hall (248 seats) with multi-media capabilities and demonstration tables.
» Small lecture hall (120 seats) with multi-media capabilities and demonstration tables.
» 278 fume hoods plus snorkel hoods and vented storage cabinets with state-of-the-art controls.
» User friendly facility for the environmentally sensitive use of chemicals.

You may view a slide show containing pictures of the completed building.