Tykeson Hall

Tykeson Hall (all photos by me)

The opportunity to tour a building before it opens and hear firsthand accounts of its design from those directly involved in its realization is always a treat. Such was the case last Wednesday with Tykeson Hall, which will be the newest academic building on the University of Oregon campus when it opens its doors to students this fall.

I joined a large group comprised of members from the local sections or chapters of AIA, CSI, and ASHRAE for a sneak peek at the nearly complete facility. Our able hosts were Chris Andrejko, AIA of Rowell Brokaw Architects PC and Greg Langdon, PE of Systems West Engineers. Chris and Greg provided us with an introduction to the project by describing its general organization and design features before allowing us to explore the building on our own.

Chris Andrejko, AIA (left) and Greg Langdon, PE

Tykeson Hall will house numerous advising and student resources for the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), previously scattered about the campus. Additionally, it will provide much-needed classroom and faculty office space within the heart of the university. The enclosed floor area totals 64,000 square feet across four floors plus a basement. The project cost $31 million to build.

Situated between Johnson Hall and Chapman Hall, the new building upholds the university’s comprehensive Campus Physical Framework Vision by establishing stronger connections between major pedestrian circulation routes and clarifying the structure of open spaces in its vicinity. Its compact form preserves the south-facing open space by Chapman Hall, forming an outdoor room (dubbed “The Oval”) for campus events. One day, Tykeson Hall and a future academic building at the intersection of E.13th Avenue and University Street will bookend and frame historic Johnson Hall.(1) 

Organizational diagram.

Second Floor Plan.

Rowell Brokaw Architects partnered with Office 52 Architecture of Portland to design the project. PLACE provided site design and landscape architecture services. Together, the team delivered a respectful piece of architecture that neither clamors for attention nor is entirely deferential. The building balances both traditional and modern expressions within an admirably clear and diagrammatic parti. Janus-like, Tykeson Hall unapologetically presents two faces toward its surroundings.

West elevation facing The Oval.

Its unique terracotta rainscreen distinguishes the “modern” face oriented west toward The Oval. While several of the university’s historic buildings feature ornamental terracotta details on their facades and entries, Rowell Brokaw and Office 52 use the material in a decidedly contemporary manner. Manufactured by Shildan and installed by Streimer Sheet Metal, the terracotta is applied in five distinct, custom glaze colors as a rain-screen cladding. The team detailed the open-joint system with 3/8 inch gaps between the terracotta panels, and carefully planned the material’s layout to avoid adjacencies between panels of the same color.

Though the terracotta is striking, I do wonder if its resolutely planar application represents a missed opportunity to exploit its plastic and decorative potential. At the height of its popularity as a building material during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, architects often embellished their designs with elaborately sculpted terracotta components (the work of Louis Sullivan stands out in this regard). While terracotta is seeing a resurgence of its use in recent years, today’s architects seem reticent to make full use of its inherent properties. If they did, we might see new work displaying the coherent levels of scale, geometric recursion, and fractal patterns of the types we intuitively respond to in historic and vernacular architectures.

Terracotta detail at the northwest corner of the building.

Tykeson Hall’s east, “traditional” brick side employs a subtly variegated blend of colors and a unique cross bond pattern to visually complement its historic neighbors. Despite the site’s prominence on 13th Avenue—the campus’s most significant central circulation corridor—the new building exhibits a sympathetic scale and a welcome absence of posturing.  

View from 13th Avenue looking toward the northeast corner.

The contrast between the two exterior expressions of Tykeson Hall also articulates the pattern of the functional program within the building. The eastern portion of Tykeson Hall primarily houses six flexible classrooms, while the west side accommodates a series of collaborative spaces and a ground-floor commons that opens in good weather toward The Oval. An inviting, open stair featuring an interactive art piece by Narduli STUDIO connects all five interior levels, as does a skylight-topped, central light well.(2) I appreciated how Rowell Brokaw and Office 52 assigned each floor a unique geographic theme to inform the color and finishes palette, evoking Oregon’s High Desert on one floor, its coast on another, and so on. The otherwise unassuming interior spaces will undoubtedly be pleasant and functional when in use.

Interior view.

Chris and Greg said Tykeson Hall should be 35% more efficient than the current Oregon Energy Code requires, and is on track to achieve LEED Gold certification. Daylighting, natural ventilation, radiant floors, chilled beams, and a high-performance building envelope will all help to lower the total energy consumption of the building.

Overall, Tykeson Hall bodes well for the University of Oregon in its efforts to preserve the unique character of the campus. Promoting and protecting a strong sense of place—as opposed to provocatively disrupting it—is the order of the day. The duty to protect the sense of place demands that architects entrusted to design new buildings do so with a full understanding and appreciation for the planning framework that underlies the campus fabric.

(1)     The future development of a proposed building will require moving Collier House to another location yet to be determined. 

(2)     Horizontally deployed fire-rated curtains enclose the floor openings at two levels, obviating the need for a mechanical smoke evacuation system within an atrium.