THE GATEWAY

Focus: ACSA Steel Competiion

Location: Clemson, SC

Function: Outreach Center

Size: 20,000 sf

Collaboration: Eric Downing & Ashley Blevins

The newest proposed landmark facility on the perimeter of Clemson University’s land-grant institution encourages innovation in the field of agriculture. It asserts its importance physically and programmatically, aiming to be a high-design performance and whole systems thinking building model. The state-of-theart research facility has a strong design form, with a lightweight steel structural system that supports an ETFE facade envelope that soars above and protects the supporting program spaces below. Abstraction is leveraged to facilitate creativity for its primary users: students, researchers, and visitors. The Gateway is situated on the northeast corner of campus, at a significant intersection connecting Highway 76 to Perimeter Road–a primary vehicular campus circuit. The site also links with the Botanical Gardens to the south with a series of interconnected landscape typologies that include fields for agriculture, horticulture, and education, a voronoi sundial playscape, and an elevated walkway that overlooks a bioswale on the northern edge of the site while on a user’s path towards the building’s entry. An entry plaza extends spatial connections to the campus center. The Gateway’s large spider glass curtain walls give Clemson University and its surrounding community a clear view of researchers, students, and gallery spaces. The tripartite plan groups the classrooms, research areas, and administration into individual wings under one roof. The canopy extends out, inviting people to enter. Bordering the centrally located Innovation Hub is a semi-circular ramp that invites users to ascend further into a continuous light-filled atmosphere on the mezzanine level equipped with an exhibition gallery, auditorium, multi-purpose spaces, and a vertical farming zone.

Site Plan

Fundamental User Groups

Mezzanine Floor Plan

AUDITORIUM

STUDENT CENTER