Clemson University dedicates 'the building that teaches'

CLEMSON, SC – April 13, 2012 – A week before Earth Day, under sunny skies illuminating exterior andinterior spaces, hundreds of Clemson University faculty, staff, studentsand friends gathered Friday to dedicate one of the mostenergy-efficient academic buildings in the United States. The recent$31.6 million restoration, renovation and expansion of academic buildingRudolph Lee Hall complex is complete.

“We are now poised torealize fully the vision of Lee Hall as the building that teaches,” saidClemson President James F. Barker, FAIA. “In it, students will learnfrom their teachers, from each other and from the building itselfbecause the new Lee Hall will be a model of sustainable design for the21st century.”

Lee Hall houses programs in architecture, art, city and regionalplanning, construction science and management, landscape architectureand real estate development.

Simple as 1-2-3, students, faculty and visitors in Lee Hall can studyin and transverse from a space listed on the National Register ofHistorical Places that once was the most modern building on campus to anew energy-efficient, sustainable, collaborative facility for thefuture.
 
The original Lee Hall (Lee I) was designed byClemson’s first dean of architecture, the late Harlan McClure, andconstructed in 1957-58. In 2010, the National Park Service placed it onthe National Register of Historic Places. In the 1970s, an additionprovided some extra classroom, office and studio space (Lee II). Therewas another small addition in the 1990s (also Lee II), before thisrecently completed 55,000-square-foot expansion (Lee III).

Clemson alumnus Thomas Phifer (’75, ‘77) and Partners of New Yorkdesigned Lee III in collaboration with McMillan Pazdan SmithArchitecture of Greenville and Holder Construction of Atlanta.

The building is zero-energy-ready, designed to offset all of itsenergy consumption with its own renewable energy. Energy savings beganwith the decision to use construction materials, some with recycledcontent, from sources within 500 miles of campus. This reduced thecarbon footprint of the project, a key factor in sustainability.

An energy dashboard provides real-time data on temperature, humidity,energy and water use. Heating and cooling are geothermal. Natural lightis provided by 53 external and internal skylights. The skylights andwindow walls minimize the need for lighting during daylight hours.

Building occupants check monitors that indicate when conditions areconducive to natural ventilation, provided through both manually andmechanically operated windows.

The 30,000-square-foot sedum roof is the largest university GardenRoof in the southeastern United States. Pervious paving materials on thesite allow stormwater to seep into the ground instead of municipaltreatment systems.

Studio workstations were designed by students and faculty in Clemson’s School of Architecture, the only one in South Carolina.

“The Lee Hall project is a testament to determination, creativity and collaboration,” said Richard Goodstein, dean of Clemson’s College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities. “We celebrate those who each day fill this building with ideas, energy, inspiration and engagement.”

Barker reminisced about his parallel history with Lee Hall.

“Harlan McClure’s original design concept for the mid-century modernLee Hall was bold, open and collaborative,” he said. “It inspired me. Itlooked and functioned like no other space on our campus at that time.My classmates and I shared a learning experience that shaped all of usin profound ways.

“So, as a former student, I can look back at the original Lee Hall —Lee I — with nostalgia and tremendous affection. As a former dean, I canlook at Lee II — the 1970s and 1990s additions — as a pragmaticsolution to an overcrowding problem.

“And as the current president of Clemson University, I look at LeeIII with a mixture of wonder, pride and joy. It is simply breathtakingin its beauty, and admirable in its functionality as anenergy-efficient, low-impact building.   

“The completion of Lee III brings these three separate facilitiesinto a functioning, cohesive whole. This restoration, renovation andexpansion also brings us back to the roots of Lee as an open,collaborative learning space.  

“I could not be prouder nor happier than I am today,” he said.