Innovation, Science & Technology Building
Santiago Calatrava

Image courtesy Santiago Calatrava, LLC.

Santiago Calatrava was selected in 2009 to create the master plan for the new Florida Polytechnic campus, and to design the first building to be constructed on the new campus.

Located at the north end of the lake, the Innovation, Science and Technology Building is the first building for the new campus, culminating the campus' central axis, and the centerpiece and anchor of the University.  

The exterior of the building is dominated by two dramatic elements, the pergola and the operable roof. The pergola is a light steel trellis that surrounds the entire building from the ground to the roof above the corridor. It provides a perceptual ceiling to the exterior arcade and terrace, while reducing the solar load on the building by over 30%. The operable roof consists of a series of hydraulically activated brise-soleil that provide shading to the commons skylight.

Image courtesy Santiago Calatrava, LLCOpen Roof

Image courtesy Santiago Calatrava, LLC
Closed Roof

The louvers are individually controlled and can be programmed to follow the course of the sun throughout the day. In the next stage of development, the brise-soleil will be outfitted with solar panels creating a 20,000 square feet solar array.

Being the first building of a new campus it must initially function as a "campus within a building." Its core program of classrooms, laboratories, administrative offices and "commons" spaces has been augmented in anticipation that the building will serve as a miniature campus.