Auburn University Advanced Structural Engineering Laboratory by HILLWORKS
USA / Built in 2021 /
hillworks.us
he Advanced Structural Engineering Laboratory (ASEL) at Auburn University is a 42,000 square foot state-of-the-art engineering testing facility. Opened in 2021, this LEED-certified facility provided a much-needed expansion for the structural testing equipment being operated by Auburn’s engineering programs. The facility offers testing areas — including a 30-foot-tall strong wall, strong floor, and geotechnical test chamber — fabrication and workshop spaces, and office areas for research engineers, faculty, and graduate students.
The primary testing facility is a high-bay area that spans 78’ wide x 200’ long and includes two 30-ton overhead cranes, each with a 35’ clear height. The landscape addresses the scale and robust use of this facility by operating both at the vast scale of the facility as well as at the intimate scale of the body. The bone yard, which is approximately 2/3 size of a football field, will display the giant fragments of broken and crushed post-tested structural members for students and researchers to explore. Simultaneously, the shady grove of Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica) offers a quiet place of refuge from the work.
Rainwater from the immense 42,000 square foot roof is first collected in a large harvesting cistern. Overflow water is then routed into four linked vegetated basins. These basins aren’t focused solely on water quantity, as a conventional detention pond might be, but rather offer filtering and shading for improved water quality and are designed to develop into active ecological patches over time. Matching the scale of the industrial facility, these basins range between 140’ and 200’ long.
Interest in these basins are not exclusively a ‘best management practice’ effort for stormwater, but also one that is fascinated by the cultural significance of the system. These spaces are critical places for people to engage with wild, living ecologies. Each of the basins were designed to develop into distinct plant communities and accommodate different volumes (and types) of stormwater. These curated plant mosaics are critical hotspots for ecological diversity where even small, fragmented patches serve as a seedbank and safe haven for many species. The design team continues to assess the overall efficacy of each of the basins, offering strategic manipulations to each plant community.
• Architecture offices involved in the design:
Chambless King Architects
