Notre Dame Engineering Building Precinct Planning and Programming

Right-sizing a new facility for optimal campus integration 

This planning initiative preceded the design and construction of a new 160,000 square feet multidisciplinary engineering building for the University of Notre Dame. Given the new building’s size and impact on the surrounding campus and precinct, the existing College of Engineering building was analyzed for space usage by department to properly right-size the footprint of the new facility. The new building was tested on the proposed site to explore its impact on the surrounding context, including: campus connectivity, pedestrian and traffic flow, use of pathways and continuation of campus architecture.

Once the building footprint and program were finalized, analysis continued with study of potential impact of exhaust from the new facility’s high concentration of laboratory environments. A scaled down model of the facility and the surrounding campus context were put through wind tunnel testing to position the building in a way that minimized negative impact and supported Notre Dame’s sustainability initiatives.