Inside RIC’s Newly Renovated Clarke Science Building
The $60 million renovation of the Clarke Science Building at Rhode Island College has been one of the most ambitious capital projects to date. After two years, the project was completed this summer.
Originally built in 1963 to serve the Department of Physical Sciences, which offers degree programs in physics and chemistry, the entire edifice had to be reconstructed and reconfigured to serve today’s students.
Designed by Brewster Thornton Group Architects and Cannon Design, this new, state-of-the-art facility reflects industrial interior design, with high ceilings and wall-to-wall windows typical of a factory or warehouse and exposed architectural elements. For instance, the second-floor ceiling of Clarke Science is exposed, with duct work, pipes and electrical wiring all in plain view.
Physical Sciences Professors Andrea Del Vecchio (physicist and chair of the department), Sarah Knowlton (chemist) and Jamie Towle-Weicksel (biochemist) noted that one of the main goals of the renovation was “to create a safe environment for research and teaching.” All three faculty members were on the Building Steering Committee.
“Safety is where we started,” says Towle-Weicksel. “This was our basic need. In the old building we had flooding, mice, mold, falling ceilings, even a swarm of bees. It wasn’t a space where we could safely teach and do research.”
“Another priority was to create as many collaboration spaces as possible for students. In the old building there was no space for them to work in groups or to socialize,” says Knowlton.
“This new building gives us not only great teaching spaces that are better for collaborative learning, but also spaces for students to hang out, study and socialize,” says Del Vecchio. “Seeing so many students using the new collaboration spaces and interacting with each other and with the faculty has been one of the best things about the new building.”
A third goal was to create larger and safer teaching and research spaces. Ten teaching labs (five per floor) run the length of the newly renovated building – all ADA compliant. Each lab seats up to 24 students.
There are also four research labs (one on the first floor and three on the second floor), which are the domain of undergraduate independent research students. Faculty also conduct research in these labs.
“We wanted the research spaces to reflect what students would experience in a biotech or chem lab in the real world,” explains Towle-Weicksel. “The H-frame shelving are the standard in those facilities, and all the electrical power and data come from the ceiling.”
Other spaces include the instrument room, which houses the department’s scientific equipment, including their nuclear magnetic resonance machine, their ultraviolet visible spectrometer, their ion chromatograph and their atomic absorption spectrometer.
Two lecture halls are available for use by all academic departments on campus. One seats 305 and the other seats 100; and there are two traditional classrooms available for use by all campus departments. One holds 60 desks and the other 20.
Faculty offices are located in two suites – one on the first floor and the other on the second.
Suites include two offices for adjunct faculty and two “huddle rooms” for students who need a separate space to take an exam, along with a conference room. RIC currently has 12 full-time physical sciences faculty – seven chemists and five physicists, who are all excited to teach and conduct research in this newly renovated facility.
“This is what a modern research and teaching workspace should look like,” concludes Towle-Weicksel.
Learn more about RIC’s chemistry degree programs and physics degree program.