Recent Articles
LEO A DALY Chairman Receives Lifetime Achievement Award
Leo A. Daly III is honored at the 32nd Annual Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference for fostering cultural understanding and international relations.
LEO A DALY structural engineer featured in Modern Steel Construction
The article offers a case study of the Saint Francis Hospital renovation and new bed tower in Muskogee, Oklahoma. It details the considerations into choosing a steel structural system as well as special design features of the project.
Rauzia Ally moderates forum with D.C. mayor on revitalizing the district
The event was hosted by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development to highlight the District’s approach to long-term economic vitality through federal portfolio management.
High-performance design lead Nick Lassek selected as top industry young professional
LEO A DALY’s Nick Lassek, PE, CBCP, has been selected for Building Design + Construction’s prestigious 40 Under 40 list. At 29, Lassek has ascended from an intern to the firm’s high-performance design lead, exemplifying innovation and leadership in sustainable architecture.
LEO A DALY to design Alexandria, Virginia City Hall and public space
The current City Hall, built in 1871, is a great source of community pride and serves as a workplace for more than 300 City employees. After many years of service, major updates are needed throughout City Hall to repair aging building components, improve operating systems, optimize space utilization, improve building circulation and wayfinding, enhance security, and facilitate community engagement.
Tradeline highlights Mercer University science center
The state-of-the-art undergraduate laboratory building designed to attract faculty and accommodate growing enrollment
To help Georgia’s Mercer University attract students and faculty, LEO A DALY designed an undergraduate laboratory building that gives students access to state-of-the-art research environments. Our Les Saunders, AIA, ACHA, LEED AP, about how an inclusive design process resulted in a vibrant new hub for collaboration and innovation on campus. The following is excerpted from the Tradeline article by Tracy Carbasho.
New Science Center at Mercer University Supports Robust STEM Research
Faced with inadequate facilities and insufficient space to accommodate increasing enrollment in its STEM programs, Mercer University in Georgia had to make a decision: Continue using classrooms built in a bygone era and miss valuable opportunities to attract top students and faculty, or construct a new undergraduate laboratory building that offers opportunities for consolidation, interaction, and collaboration. University leaders chose the latter with the establishment of the $44 million Spearman C. Godsey Science Center, which opened in January 2018.
“The original buildings, constructed in the early 1960s, were little more than high school labs at the time,” says Leslie Saunders, Sr., vice president and healthcare market sector leader at LEO A DALY in Atlanta. “The lab spaces were too small for the number of students and did not support current pedagogies.”
Saunders says a contemporary, high-tech undergraduate laboratory building helps Mercer compete with other mid-size Georgia universities that are trying to attract students with an interest in STEM. In recent years, the state has invested heavily in STEM education at the junior high and high school levels, producing more college-ready students who want to pursue careers in these fields. The state also awards the Hope Scholarship to top students who attend institutions in Georgia, resulting in enrollment saturation at major universities and leaving smaller schools scrambling to attract the remaining students. Mercer has approximately 8,550 total students with about 3,400 undergraduates on the main campus in Macon.
The four-story, 143,410-sf center fulfills Mercer’s objectives of establishing a STEM quad where learning and research can grow together symbiotically at a prominent intersection on the main campus. It creates more classrooms; provides innovative, open spaces that accommodate consolidation of departments and minimize silos; and creates opportunities for interaction and collaboration.
“The conversation is not about the building as much as it is about how the building satisfies what the university is trying to accomplish,” says Saunders. “They want to increase participation in and success of their STEM programs.”
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