The EEEC, which is located adjacent to Lindley Hall, was designed to be a state-of-the-art teaching and research facility that will act as a central point for all energy and environment research, creating interdisciplinary collaboration between programs.

“The Earth Energy and Environment Center represents the start of a transformation of the facilities at the University of Kansas guided by a philosophy of integration and engagement,” said Robert Goldstein, Provost’s Special Advisor on Campus Development at KU. “Slawson and Ritchie Halls are designed to promote collaboration across disciplines and engagement of students, faculty, and external partners.  We are already experiencing tangible results with collaborations on new degree programs, educational opportunities, and research.”

Using transparency as a design strategy, the EEEC breaks down historic academic silos and offers a more integrated approach to student learning. The organization of research spaces maximizes interaction through permeability between lab bench, shared resources, and office and meeting spaces. Students and teachers can collaborate in a variety of different areas including:

• Floating, glass-enclosed cubes in Slawson Hall’s atrium that act as meeting rooms

• A 180-seat large active learning classroom at the heart of the complex, visible and connected to multiple floors

• Two 65-seat active learning classrooms

• Enclosed walkways that connect the two halls to each other, as well as with Lindley Hall and Learned Hall, to promote easier movement within the facility

• Outdoor courtyard space that features a variety of boulders that come from Kansas

The EEEC seeks to put learning on display, featuring exterior material choices that reflect the fields of study that take place within, and celebrates the state’s geological history. Native limestone provides a base for both buildings, while terra cotta panels are arranged in patterns inspired by the layers of rock beneath the state’s surface. Inside Slawson Hall, a 45-foot long Mosasaur fossil hangs from the atrium, appearing to dive after a sea turtle. Both fossils are casts of specimens excavated specifically in Kansas.

“We’re so proud to have partnered again with the University of Kansas to create a home for its cross-disciplinary research that has the ability to shape our future,” said John Wilkins, Gould Evans Principal. “A project of this magnitude requires a state-of-the-art design, yet still needs to take on the identity of its existing context. We were able to create a contemporary facility on KU’s campus that still has affinity to its surroundings by weaving in different design elements like the exterior glazing, which reflects its contextual surroundings.”

The facility is first in a series of new science buildings to define “Innovation Way”. The buildings’ geometry responds to their location at the intersection of two campus grids. Slawson Hall, which includes an Outreach Center, responds to the community grid, while the education program within Ritchie Hall corresponds to the primary campus grid.

Media: Gould Evans architectural staff are available for interviews, and additional images are available upon request. Please contact Megan Krtek at megan.krtek@gouldevans.com or 816-701-5422.

About Gould Evans
Gould Evans’ award-winning designs are recognized for their specificity to people and place. Our diverse portfolio of architecture stems from a design process that starts with the client’s goals. We share a passion for regional architecture and design that positively impacts our communities. To learn more, visit www.gouldevans.com.

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The DeBruce Center is a transformational addition to Allen Fieldhouse, which is considered one of college basketball’s most historically-significant and prestigious buildings.

Gould Evans’ design of the DeBruce Center responds to the University’s need for an environment that welcomes visitors and the KU community pre-game, post-game, and throughout the year. The design subtly integrates two distinct programs – an interpretive center for The Rules and a student commons – allowing the story of basketball to unfold at multiple scales and to multiple audiences.

A linear pathway winds through the soaring interior of the DeBruce Center, along which the story of The Rules and the subsequent development of the game are strategically arranged, taking visitors on a historical journey that culminates in Allen Fieldhouse. The pathway connects many features inside the new building including:

• Cutting-edge multimedia exhibits exploring the history of KU basketball

• 200-seat dining commons for students and visitors

• 60-seat mezzanine available for private events

• Gift shop featuring KU Basketball memorabilia

“I love the open-space design of the building and think it will provide a great venue for Jayhawk fans to gather before and after games,” said Paul DeBruce, the lead donor of the DeBruce Center. “It also will be an attractive and welcoming place for KU students, faculty and visitors throughout the year.  The design succeeded in bringing together the display of The Rules with the dining and meeting needs of the KU campus.”

One of the most compelling features of the new building is how the more than 45,000 words of today’s modern rules of basketball, engraved in an aluminum scrim which covers the connector bridge, “wrap” around the display case for the original 451-word historical document. This offers visitors the unique and intimate spatial experience of being enveloped by thousands of words, and a way to physically experience basketball’s evolution over 125 years. In addition to the aluminum scrim, a refined material palette of structural glass and honed black concrete highlight the design simplicity of the DeBruce Center, which serves to reflect the simple, yet powerful origin of The Rules.

“One of our design challenges for this project was finding a way to make the DeBruce Center stand out, while acting as a background to the historic Allen Fieldhouse to which it connects and The Rules document contained within,” explained Kelly Dreyer, Project Designer with Gould Evans. “The simple form, transparent façade and reduced material palette allow the building to integrate with the campus during the day, its surfaces reflecting the patterns of trees and adjacent campus buildings. At night the building glows, revealing the activity within and inspiring curiosity from passersby.”

KU alumnus David Booth of Austin, Texas, purchased the Rules in December 2010, and subsequently donated them to KU, creating the catalyst for a new building to properly house them.

“The design of the DeBruce Center enables a seamless link from historic Allen Fieldhouse to the exhibit of The Rules of Basketball while providing a new retail and dining experience for the KU community,” Booth said. ”I see the building as a bridge from the traditions of the past to the energy of the present.”

The Rules were installed in the DeBruce Center today, May 13. This milestone completes the exhibits, which are now open for public view.

Media: Gould Evans architectural staff are available to provide media tours of the DeBruce Center and elaborate on the design. Images also available upon request.

About Gould Evans
Gould Evans’ award-winning designs are recognized for their specificity to people and place. Our diverse portfolio of architecture stems from a design process that starts with the client’s goals. We share a passion for regional architecture and design that positively impacts our communities. To learn more, visit www.gouldevans.com.

About the University of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. The university's mission is to lift students and society by educating leaders, building healthy communities and making discoveries that change the world.

About the Donor
Five years after graduating from KU’s School of Business in 1973, Paul DeBruce founded DeBruce Grain, Inc., and served as Chairman and CEO until the company was sold in 2010. For more than three decades, Mr. DeBruce led a team of more than 600 dedicated employees that built DeBruce Grain into an international, industry-leading agricultural and grain-trading firm.  In 1989, Mr. DeBruce established The DeBruce Foundation, which works to expand opportunities for individuals and to act as a catalyst for innovative projects that solve problems faced by our community and our country.

Gould Evans Media Contact
Megan Krtek
(816)701-5422
megan.krtek@gouldevans.com

KU Media Contact
Curtis Marsh
(785)864-3200
cmarsh@ku.edu