Smith College, Kathleen McCartney Hall

Overview 

We provided sustainability consulting, structural design, and façade engineering services to TenBerke Architects for a 15,000-square-foot combined home for Smith’s Lazarus Center for Career Development and Wurtele Center for Leadership. The LEED Gold-certified center reflects the College’s sustainability goals, incorporating a mass timber-hybrid structural system, healthy materials selection, and geothermal heating and cooling. 

Through a holistic approach and integrated services, spanning from early engagement in the concept phase to construction administration, our team assisted the building in achieving Net-Zero readiness, compliance with Smith College's Interior Procurement Standards, and a cohesive, sustainable design supported by detailed energy modeling, life cycle analyses, LEED consulting services, and advanced system integration.

Highlights 

• The façade uses triple-pane glazing with bird-friendly ceramic frit patterns and vertical sunshades, advancing the project’s sustainability objectives while enhancing its architectural appeal and operational performance. 
• The sustainability team employed Passive House principles to optimize energy use, while enhancing occupancy comfort through advanced indoor air quality (IAQ) measures and the elimination of Red List chemicals in interior finishes. 
• A 30% reduction in embodied carbon was achieved through the use of mass timber in the structural system, concrete-volume reduction, and low-carbon insulation.