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scheduling deadlines. As he explains, the interviewing process

UAA Integrated Sciences Building
ensures better quality control.
Here’s a closer look at how the current square footage
compares to the space of the future facility:
A ‘Community of Science’
For the Integrated Sciences Building, the design was equally CURRENT UPON COMPLETION

important to constructing a quality building. One of the major Total square footage 35,327 120,000
goals of the project, according to Hatch, was to bring together
Research lab space 4,385 24,071
several science departments to form a cross-learning space.
Beginning in 2001, ZGF Architects of Seattle began the design Shared research labs 4,830 473
process to make UAA’s vision a reality. Principal Allyn
Teaching labs 5,985 13,335
Stellmacher, the main visionary on the building’s design, says
understanding the university’s need for a building that would Source: University of Alaska – Anchorage

appeal to prospective students, as well as foster collaboration

among the sciences was essential.
His inspiration came from looking at how UAA approached
the teaching the sciences. “As an architect, a lot of energy came
from working with their young and focused science community
on the campus,” he recalls. “Anchorage is a growing, vibrant
mecca for young people.”
Stellmacher, an 18-year veteran with ZGF Architects, says that
academic research campuses have upgraded their images in the
last 15 years to attract students. In addition to considering how
the campus offers education, students are also interested in the
collaborative experience that the facilities can offer.
Stellmacher was equally as interested in creating a building
that blended in with the dramatic, yet delicate surroundings.
“What we tried to do is look at the leadership of the campus and
craft something that matches their values; it’s not a cookie-cutter
solution,” he adds. “We were interested in creating something
that combines the politics, young energy and need for the state
into a beautiful site.”
Stellmacher says he never intended to enter the project with
the “mentality of ‘bulldoze and build’,” but rather to “create a
holistic place that really attracts students here. “This project has
been about bending a building into a landscape,” he explains.
“The winters here can be very long with dark days, so [I] needed
to work hard to create environments that addressed those issues
and created positive and appropriate spaces.”
The architects arranged the building to foster socialization. The
teaching and research labs and faculty offices were built into sep-
arate areas of the building, but connect in the center with a large,
circular atrium and through several open pathways that would
move occupants through the building instead of “hide folks in
corridors,” Stellmacher explains.
Equally important to Stellmacher’s design was providing a con-
nection to the outdoors and natural scenery by organizing three
large portals and skylights that would allow light to penetrate
deep into the facility.
The design mirrors the university’s expectations, and anticipa-
tion for the building’s impact on the campus and community is
high. “This whole idea of building a community of science, with
state-of-the-art technologies is really going to move us forward,”
Hatch maintains.
“We really have a different attitude toward how we want to do
science; it’s a conscious effort to have a building that reflects the
environment,” Hatch asserts. “We want communication, not isola-
tion in this building.” ■

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