With its name rooted in a Latin word that means “to move forward,” Harper College’s new $50 million Avante Center for Science, Health Careers and Emerging Technologies represents the institution’s dedication to advancement and providing a premiere educational environment for its students. The 400-room Center features research and training laboratories, classrooms, computer labs, faculty and staff offices, meeting rooms and lecture halls.
KJWW provided mechanical, electrical and technology engineering services for the 288,500 SF facility, which houses 10 academic departments, including nursing, dental hygiene, medical imaging, cardiac care, electronics, computer science biology, and chemistry.
To accommodate the owner’s wish to know how much energy each wing in the building – science, health careers and emerging technologies – uses, the Center was constructed with one central plant but individually metered chilled water and steam heat. To provide heat, the campus steam system was extended to the new building via a steam tunnel. Hot water supply temperature can be reset independently for each of the building’s three divisions – if one wing needs 180 degree water and another needs 160, they can both be accommodated. The building’s air-handling units feature energy recovery to cool incoming ventilation air and were designed to be clad with an arched finish so they could blend in with the building exterior.
Much like the mechanical systems, the electrical service was also designed with a single utility service, but four separate metered services for each of the three wings as well as the shared central mechanical systems.
The Avante Center’s lighting systems include energy-efficient fluorescent lamps and electronic ballasts. Classrooms, labs and offices are served by multi-level lighting, which allows for flexibility and energy savings when adequate natural daylight is available. For additional energy savings, all classrooms, labs, restrooms and offices contain dual-technology occupancy sensors that regulate both lighting and HVAC air flow.
KJWW designed the emerging technologies section of the building with a 6-inch raised floor, which enables the college to run power and cabling under the floor for access from nearly anywhere in a room. The design also allows for under-floor air supply, a feature also found in the building’s south-facing two-story atrium, which is served by linear diffusers at the windows. All offices in the center are equipped with fiber-to-the-desk and are wired for cable television.
Additional designs provided by KJWW include variable flow fume hoods and exhaust and pressure control systems for the chemistry laboratories, a deionized water system, and an acid waste system with a neutralizing tank.
The Z science wing of the building houses physical science, chemistry and biology laboratories, a botany solarium, faculty offices, lecture halls, and a café.
The X health careers wing houses cardiac technology, diagnostic imaging, dental hygiene, nursing, dietetic, and nursing assistant labs, life science and human services offices, faculty offices, and classrooms.
The Y emerging technologies wing offers academic affairs career program offices, electronics labs and classrooms, computer information science labs and a mega lab.