Western University, Material and Science Addition

The Material Science Addition (MSA) is a 4-storey addition to both the existing Chemistry Building and Biology, and Geology Building on the campus of Western University. The program includes teaching labs for the first year chemistry and physics students, a material synthesis research lab, NMR lab, a nanotechnology lab, physical chemistry research lab, a graduate student space, tutorial rooms, faculty offices and meeting rooms. This is a demanding building program with a complex building solution. Careful planning using intuitive way-finding strategies helped simplify routes through new, and between existing spaces.

The MSA is aligned with the recently added Biotron Research Facility to the East thus creating a continuous north façade. An enclosed courtyard allows ample natural light into the student common areas at all four levels.

This project was completed in association with Perkins + Will.

The Tillmann team did a superb job of carefully listening to the needs of the researchers and staff, presenting design options that would meet the needs of the academics and fall within the project constraints, and working with the academic team to ensure the final design was appropriate and satisfactory to all. Because of budget and space constraints, many tough decisions had to be made during the design process. Each decision was given the appropriate consideration and explored fully before moving forward. The architectural team would not move forward until all concerns were addressed. The academic team was treated with great respect and never felt pressured to make a decision.

Kim M. Baines, Professor and Chair
Western University (Dept of Chemistry)