The new Rutgers University academic building at its College Avenue campus in New Brunswick — File photo
By Joshua Burd
A project that has helped redevelop the heart of Rutgers University’s main campus in New Brunswick has earned a prestigious recognition in the design field.
Among the 2017 World Architecture News Award winners was the university’s new state-of-the-art academic building on its College Avenue campus, which was designed by Elkus Manfredi and built by New Brunswick Development Corp. With 2,500 seats of classroom space, the project consolidated eight departments from Rutgers’ School of Arts and Sciences and is the first new academic building on the campus in more than 50 years.
“Located in the heart of the University’s original academic campus, the design of the new building mediates the transition from the historic academic campus to the south and the newer residential campus to the north,” World Architecture News wrote in a review of the project. “In knitting together the two halves of campus for the first time, the project has had a significant impact on the identity of the College Avenue Campus as a whole.”
The academic building was part of a more than $330 million project led by Devco to transform the College Avenue campus, which also included a new honors college building and a mixed-use complex of student apartments, retail and public space known as The Yard.
The College Avenue redevelopment was also recognized recently by the U.S. Green Building Council’s New Jersey chapter as the Innovative School Project of the Year.
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Of the academic building, World Architecture News said “campus connectivity and placemaking were main drivers of the design.” The organization also pointed to “several key design features to achieve lower life-cycle costs and reduced energy consumption.”
The complete review can be found on the World Architecture News website.
