Psychological and Brain Sciences Building

An innovative research and learning facility is an inviting campus and community gateway

Information

Location Iowa City, Iowa
Size 62,000 SF
Completion 2020

The Psychological and Brain Sciences Building holds an important place on the University of Iowa campus, serving as a gateway to the East Campus. The new facility provides administrative functions, research laboratories, graduate student offices, collaboration space, and faculty offices. As a functioning research facility, a series of research rooms are equipped with specialized light and acoustic controls to aid in initiatives. The goal was to create a lab module that could be modified to accommodate the different research pursuits of the department, providing future flexibility. In addition, the design includes general purpose classroom facilities including active learning classrooms, breakout rooms and learning commons space for studying, gathering, and socializing. The facility is attentive to both the programmatic needs of the Psychological and Brain Sciences department and the campus community at-large, serving as a multi-disciplinary resource for students and faculty from across campus.

Impact + Innovation

The building serves a unique purpose as both a teaching and research facility for faculty, students, and visitors of all ages. As an anchor of the campus, it was important to provide a welcoming environment for all who interact with the facility daily. The existing facilities did not support the needs of the Psychological and Brains Sciences department, lacking a sense of campus connection and human-purposed design that is necessary to the practice of Psychology. The introduction of views of the outdoors and generous natural daylight open the building in a transformative way, creating a sense of connection among different functional spaces of the building and better supporting occupant health, comfort, and well-being.

Process

As a place of connectivity for students across campus and the surrounding community, it was important to the University of Iowa to create a welcoming, comfortable facility that would accommodate all building users through inclusive design. The BNIM team worked with the University of Iowa and an accessibility consultant to implement design strategies informed by ADA guidelines. In working with the University of Iowa, the BNIM design team also had the opportunity to learn from student groups about specific needs and considerations to help improve the facility’s accessibility and sense of comfort. Focusing on inclusive, human-purposed design, spaces are designed to enhance mobility and accommodate larger wheelchairs, provide easier access to bathroom facilities on each floor, and create clear wayfinding upon entry into the facility.

People

Team

Client

Thomas Hilton

Moving into our new building was like moving from a windowless basement to the great outdoors. Light was everywhere. And in the two months we had to enjoy the building (before covid-19 hit), students and faculty were congregating in the large windowed commons spaces for lunch, to talk about research, and study. The effect was nothing short of transformative … I saw more spontaneous faculty-student interactions in the first few weeks after moving into the building than I had seen in all the years that I’ve been at the University of Iowa combined — and I arrived here in 1992!

Mark S. Blumberg, Ph.D. F. Wendell Miller Professor, Department Chair Psychological & Brain Sciences, Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa