Completion Date: 2013
Square Footage:
60,000 (new construction)
40,000 (renovation)

The Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Michigan is housed in the GG Brown Building on the North Campus. While ranked as one of the top five mechanical engineering programs in the country, the image and “front door” do not reflect this stature. We were selected to renovate the existing building and design a 60,000 square foot addition. While improving the visibility of the department, the project also fills the need for high-performance laboratory space for new areas of research including nanotechnology.

The building renovation includes an upgrade of GG Brown’s infrastructure as well as an extensive renovation of the undergraduate instructional space. The new program serves interdisciplinary and interactive learning and includes the undergraduate shop and learning center. Creating synergies between these areas improves student interactions and allows for equipment sharing and improved set-up management.

The addition is three stories with 60 laboratory modules, an underground ultra-low vibration lab and eight specialized chambers including an imaging suite, tissue culture, microbiology, material testing bio-mems, nanoscience labs such as micro bioengineering nanostructures, optics and a micro-dynamics lab.

The addition is sited to create a highly visible “front door” and to address the North Campus concerns of connections to housing, parking and loading docks on the northern perimeter of campus. The design includes an LED light array within the folding metal roof that can be programmed to create artful displays. The renovated and expanded GG Brown Building gives the Mechanical Engineering Department a striking presence among the other engineering buildings that surround the “Diag,” the quadrangle at the heart of the School of Engineering.