Technological Institute Infill

Project Status: COMPLETED

Construction start: Summer 2010
Completion: Fall 2012

Project Description & Statistics

The Technological Institute (1942) has more than 800,000 square feet of classrooms, offices, laboratories, and research facilities. Designed by Holabird and Root, the facility is one of the largest academic buildings in the world. It houses the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science as well as the departments of Chemistry and of Physics and Astronomy, which are part of the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. The Lannon stone and Bedford limestone building is embellished at the entrance by Edgar Miller's sculptural reliefs on scientific and engineering themes.

Flad Architects have prepared contract documents for two additions to the Technological Institute to accommodate expanding program needs for both the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The first approximately 50,000 gsf six-story addition will be located on the north side of the Technological Institute (Tech) between the existing B & C Wings. It will accommodate the IMSERC analytical lab and research laboratories and associated space for the Engineering Life Science program of Biomedical Engineering.

The IMSERC Laboratory is a facility that contains a variety of analytical instruments for students to use for academic research purposes. The facility is managed by the Department of Chemistry and is currently located on the ground floor of Tech, room KG73. The concept is to relocate this facility onto the ground and first floor of the new addition and to create both additional program space for expanded equipment needs and to provide an attractive showcase learning and research facility.

The remaining space on floors 2 through 4 of the addition will provide expansion space for the Engineering Life Science program and related engineering functions including a multistory atrium to provide for natural daylight to areas in the existing building and new addition. A fourth floor office expansion will be included on top of the existing L and M wing structure.

Flad Architects have prepared construction documents for a second 6 story addition to the Technological Institute to accommodate both expanding program needs of the McCormick School of Engineering and the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences for a shared Clean Room facility and Earth and Planetary Science Departmental space. The approximately 49,000 gsf addition will be located on the south side of Tech between the existing F & G Wings.

The new shared Clean Room facility will support new equipment for interdisciplinary research. The existing facilities in EG20 are outmoded and potentially inadequately sized to undertake this new research. The advanced instruments planned for the new laboratory cannot be installed in the current space without major facility upgrades and relocation of existing equipment. The Clean Room is H-5 occupancy and will occupy approximately 6,800 gsf of the 8,000 gsf Ground Floor addition. The balance of the area will be allocated to the Physics Department. The Clean Room mechanical space will reside on the first floor.

The second through fourth floors of the addition will provide space for Earth and Planetary Science and an atrium to provide for natural daylight to areas in the existing building and new addition. A mechanical room will be added on the fifth floor. A fourth floor office expansion will be included on top of the existing F wing structure.

Northwestern University is committed to taking appropriate steps to minimize Northwestern's impact on the natural environment. Northwestern will require that the B-C and F-G Infill additions to Tech be designed and achieve a minimum LEED Silver rating per the USGBC system.

Project Team

Project Management

Ron Nayler , Associate Vice President for Facilities
Bonnie Humphrey, Director Facilities Design & Construction
Quent Bruhn, Project Manager

Architect, Engineers & Consultants

Flad Architects – Architect

General Contractor

Pepper Construction

Additional Documents

Infill Locations

Contact Information

All questions or complaints should be directed to:

Quent Bruhn, Project Manager
Northwestern University
Facilities Design & Construction
2020 Ridge Avenue, Suite 250
Evanston, IL 60208
Phone: 847-491-3677
Fax: 847-491-3869
qlb945@northwestern.edu