UCONN Science 1 Building & the Woodland Walk

In this instructional video, you’ll hear from UCONN representatives, including Laura Cruickshank, FAIA, University of Connecticut Assoc. Vice President, Master Planner & Chief Architect, provide an overview of UCONN’s 2015 Campus Master Plan which included the goal to develop two advanced STEM disciplines. This goal led to the complete transformation of a hillside parking lot into a landscape of green infrastructure which surrounds UCONN’s Science 1 Building, a STEM research building designed for both undergraduate and graduate level instruction, study, and collaboration.

You will also hear from core members of the project team, Robert Golde (Towers|Golde), Peter Viera (Payette), Edward Allen (van Zelm), David Barstow (GZA) and Daniel Cefaratti (Salas O’Brien), describe goals, considerations, challenges, and strategies for designing a landscape intended to be performative, educational and regenerative and a high-performance, energy efficient lab building. The latter is particularly challenging given that science buildings are very energy intensive.

The Science 1 building opened on June 15, 2023 and is pursuing a minimum of LEED Gold certification. The sustainable landscape, known as the ‘Woodland Walk’, is pursuing ASLA’s Sustainable Sites Initiative.

This video was created as an additional learning tool during a two-part symposium that the Connecticut Green Building Council held in September 2023 in collaboration with The Connecticut Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (CTASLA) and the UCONN Plant Science and Landscape Architecture and University Planning, Design & Construction Team.

This instructional video was made possible by the support of the following sponsors: GZA GeoEnvironmental, Salas O’Brien, Payette, Towers|Golde, and van Zelm Engineers.