MacMillan Hall

Construction on new sciences center for undergraduates begins in June

By Scott J. Turner

The university's highest construction priority will begin to crystallize in June, when on-site work will begin on MacMillan Hall, the new undergraduate sciences center.

Located at the southeast corner of Thayer and George streets, MacMillan Hall will serve primarily the undergraduate teaching and laboratory needs of the departments of Chemistry, Geological and Environmental Sciences.

The 75,600-square-foot facility is slated to open at the start of the 1998-99 academic year. The three-story building will connect to the existing Geology and Chemistry Building at all floors.

MacMillan Hall will feature:

First-floor Interdisciplinary Learning Centers designed to maximize contact and collaboration between students and faculty;
Three floors of teaching labs, where undergraduates will also conduct research;
About 200 state-of-the-art workstations primarily for students in introductory chemistry courses;
Rooms of specialized instruments and equipment for use in undergraduate teaching and research;
A 300-seat auditorium outfitted with audiovisual equipment;
A 110-seat classroom;
Oversized lobbies and corridors to handle large numbers of students;
A facility with minimal environmental impact of exhaust air and chemical waste; maximum energy efficiency and conservation; utmost use of natural daylight; and superior indoor air quality.

This building will offer Brown's undergraduates the same type of research space and equipment that other institutions usually set aside for graduate students, says Steven Hamburg, associate professor of environmental studies.

MacMillan Hall will allow undergraduates taking classes in environmental studies, for example, to prepare, process and analyze samples, as well as set up experiments that include procedures such as extraction and filtration.

The layout of MacMillan Hall and the range of research that will take place in it will provide undergraduates with diverse opportunities to learn from each other, Hamburg said.

Ron Lawler, professor of chemistry, said that combining workstations and classroom space fosters the idea of the laboratory classroom.

"The workstations are in an open arrangement in the laboratory classrooms, which preserves aisle space while providing seats for classroom activities," Lawler said. "Once this building is completed, I hope it will be held as an example of what a teaching laboratory should look like in the 21st century."

The new undergraduate sciences center is named for W. Duncan MacMillan '53, a University trustee emeritus and director of Cargill, Inc. His $10-million gift, one part of his commitment to Brown's current comprehensive Campaign, allowed work to begin on the new facility.

According to Carol Wooten, assistant vice president for planning and construction, groundbreaking ceremonies for MacMillan Hall will take place Friday, Oct. 11.

Architects for the building are Koetter, Kim and Associates Inc., and J.D. Salocks Architecture. The consulting engineers are BR&A (Baird, Rao and Athanas).