Global and International Studies Building / Ennead Architects + Browning Day Mullins Dierdorf

Architects: Ennead Architects, Browning Day Mullins Dierdorf
Location: Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
Area: 165000.0 ft2
Project Year: 2015
Photographs: Jeff Goldberg, Courtesy of Ennead Architects

Ennead Architects Design Partner: Susan T. Rodriguez FAIA
Ennead Architects Management Partner: Joseph Fleischer FAIA
Ennead Architects Project Manager: Joshua Frankel AIA
Ennead Architects Senior Designer: Daniel Stube AIA
Ennead Architects Project Architects: Megan Miller AIA (Design), Andrew Sniderman AIA (Construction)
Ennead Architects Project Team: Justine Cheng, Erkan Emre, Nicholas Hunt, Dean Kim AIA, Alison Spear AIA, Andrew Sumners AIA
Browning Day Mullins Dierdorf Principal In Charge: Jonathan Hess AIA
Browning Day Mullins Dierdorf Senior Project Manager: Timothy Ritchotte
Browning Day Mullins Dierdorf Project Manager: Chris Haskett
Browning Day Mullins Dierdorf Director Of Sustainability: Dan Overbey AIA
Browning Day Mullins Dierdorf Interior Design/Furnishings: Lacey Causseaux
Lanscape Principal In Charge: Barth Hendrickson ASLA
Landscape Project Manager: Drew Braley ASLA
Structural: Fink Roberts Petrie
Mep: Durkin & Villalta Partners Engineering
Lighting: Brandston Partnership, Inc. 
Graphics: H Plus Incorporated
Acoustics/Av: Harvey Marshall Berling Associates
General Contractor: Messer Construction

From the architect. The new Global and International Studies Building defines an important cultural and academic crossroads at the heart of campus. Home to the new School of Global and International Studies and many of the language, literature and culture studies programs in IU’s College of Arts and Sciences, the new building provides flexible spaces for teaching and learning that extend beyond the classroom to foster collaboration and inter-disciplinary education. Integrated into the sloping topography at the eastern edge of the campus’s historic core, the design fuses building and landscape by framing a new terrace landscape as an extension of public gathering spaces within the building.

Compositionally the building’s two wings respond to the unique geometry of the site — one set by the orthogonal grid of the surrounding campus context and one generated by the curvilinear geometry of the arboretum and former velodrome to the west. A three-story glass enclosed volume unifies the building and defines the intersection of movement to and through the building. This monumental gathering space celebrates the University’s longstanding commitment to international studies on campus.

Sustainable design principles have informed the design with particular emphasis on the building’s solar orientation and the integration of daylight and views throughout the building. Locally quarried limestone on the building’s exterior continues the campus tradition with accents of vibrant colored stones from around the world making visual reference to the study of global cultures. This rich variety of materials and textures culminates in the interior with a three-story wall of international stones in the central atrium.