KieranTimberlake designed the north bar of Brockman Hall with a ground-level loggia lined with 18 tapered concrete columns.
Rice University's new physics building is organized as two parallel wings, connected by a pair of bridges.
The two enclosed floors of the northern volume are supported by 18 poured-in-place concrete columns. And in a break from Rice's brick-and-masonry vernacular, the northernmost façade is glazed to capture indirect light, and silk screened with a blue Penrose pattern to mitigate glare.
The building's southern-most façade is clad in a screen of terra-cotta baguettes that help minimize heat gain and blend with the other, predominantly brick buildings on campus.
However, glazing is dominant in the courtyard between the two volumes, allowing daylight to penetrate the interiors.
Classrooms offer views out though the varied façade conditions.
The sensitive research labs are isolated below-grade from environmental fluctuations, sound, and vibrations.
A breezeway cuts through the building, giving access to the high-ceilinged, stone-clad lobby in the southern volume.
