Cost:
$27,477,000

Size:
180,000 sf

Completion:
1996

RCG designed the highly-acclaimed seven-story, 180,000 sf Plant Sciences Building to house research facilities for the University of Maryland's College of Agriculture & Natural Resources. The lower two levels contain advanced multi-media lecture halls, computer labs, lab support spaces, and undergraduate teaching labs. The middle three floors house graduate research labs for the Entomology, Natural Resource Sciences and Horticulture divisions. The Department of Landscape Architecture is also housed on the second level with studios in a separate two-story wing of the building.

The design of the contextual building responds to the University of Maryland's Georgian campus aesthetic and creates a cohesive ensemble on adjacent Hornbake Plaza. Difficult changes in grade about the site are accommodated through open loggias leading to stairs and strategic building entries. Interior circulation is rendered in wood and terrazzo finishes. The interior provides easy access to public common areas; creating a warm and collegial environment with break-out spaces for study and interaction.

The research labs are modular and flexible to allow for changes in research initiatives with shafts and chases permitting adaptability and expandability. The building has provisions for a variety of lab support spaces including: constant temperature rooms, growth chambers, animal rooms, dark rooms and autoclave rooms. The main floor contains the Plant Sciences Teaching Theatre complex. This state-of-the-art facility offers a video conferencing room with compressed video connections to over 30 Interactive Video Network sites throughout the state; including a networked tele-classroom with 36 desktop computers.

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