WKU News

Sarah Lamere, (center) lead architect for RossTarrant, presented the Shaw Contract Design Award to Dr. Cheryl Stevens, (left) dean of Ogden College of Science and Engineering, and Dan Chaney, project manager for WKU Planning, Design and Construction. (WKU photo by Bryan Lemon)

The “Science on Display” design of WKU’s Ogden College Hall has earned international recognition in the Shaw Contract Design Awards program.

The WKU project, designed by RossTarrant Architects, won the program’s Higher Education Category award as well as the People’s Choice Award. The 2018 Shaw Contract Design Awards program received more than 500 entries from 36 countries.

Ogden College Hall was initially selected as the Higher Education category winner, one of 35 category winners, by a panel of 12 judges, securing a spot among the top 7 percent of projects worldwide. Those projects were then entered into the People’s Choice Award.

Sarah Lamere, lead architect for RossTarrant, visited the WKU campus on Wednesday (Aug. 29) to present the award to Dr. Cheryl Stevens, dean of Ogden College of Science and Engineering, and Dan Chaney, project manager for WKU Planning, Design and Construction.

“We particularly enjoyed working creatively with Sarah and her team to envision a building with a “science on display” theme that also met our programmatic needs,” Dr. Stevens said.

Ogden College Hall was designed to be an interesting, fun and unique science building, Dr. Stevens said.  Its architectural features and design elements highlight the “science on display” theme. The $40 million building, which opened for the spring 2018 semester, features 36 laboratories for biology, chemistry, physics and astronomy as well as interdisciplinary research laboratories for materials science, biodiversity and biochemistry; a student success center and advising suite; a 300-seat auditorium; and the dean’s office suite for the Ogden College of Science and Engineering. In addition to research, teaching and lab space, the building includes student lounge/study areas on each floor that encourages collaborative learning.

Shaw Contract’s Hexagon Tile carpet played a critical role in the building’s “Science on Display” theme.  Although Ogden College Hall is industrial in style, it incorporates science and art in a cost effective way that is classy, pragmatic, and wonderfully creative.  Furthermore, the new Ogden College Hall is being considered for certification as both a LEED (green) and WELL (human health) building, an acknowledgement of the importance of health, wellness and sustainability in academic buildings.

Contact: Dr. Cheryl Stevens, (270) 745-4449