Rutgers Facility Architecture...

[zazoo2002]

Just saw photos of the nearly completed Rodkin Center. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but the exterior styling - cladding - is awful. Same goes for the RWJBarnabas Athletic Performance Center. Both are so pedestrian stylistically. Stark contrast to the Rutgers Business School. No cohesiveness whatsoever. I understand that there are budget constraints, but I'd like to think that these projects, along with others, could have done a better job in considering their audience and incorporating some cohesive - possibly traditional - elements without going over budget. Perhaps too many competing interests? Rant over...for now.

 

[ScarletDave]

Yes the new Rutgers architecture model seems to be shiny plastic-looking LEGO buildings. The rodkin center, the APC by the RAC, the Livi apartments, new academic buildings, new Pharmacy building on Busch, new Hall of Engineering ... etc

 

[e5fdny]

Just saw photos of the nearly completed Rodkin Center. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but the exterior styling - cladding - is awful. Same goes for the RWJBarnabas Athletic Performance Center. Both are so pedestrian stylistically. Stark contrast to the Rutgers Business School. No cohesiveness whatsoever. I understand that there are budget constraints, but I'd like to think that these projects, along with others, could have done a better job in considering their audience and incorporating some cohesive - possibly traditional - elements without going over budget. Perhaps too many competing interests? Rant over...for now.

Very fair assessment.

I don’t expect everything to look like Vorhees Mall or the Waksman, but something...

 

[JRZEER]

Very fair assessment.

I don’t expect everything to look like Vorhees Mall or the Waksman, but something...

Rutgers does everything on the cheap and engineering and planning is always atrocious. Contractors only bid work at RU bc they know they will make all the money on extras and do overs There is very little profit margin in most stare work. Contractors know they will make money on state employee incompetence, especially at Rutgers.

 

[zazoo2002]

Very fair assessment.

I don’t expect everything to look like Vorhees Mall or the Waksman, but something...

Be curious which architecture firm they used for both projects.

 

[RUevolution36]

Be curious which architecture firm they used for both projects.

Rutgers University, Gary and Barbara Rodkin Academic Success Center, New Brunswick, NJ | Reuther + Bowen

www.reutherbowen.com

Athletic Performance Center | Langan

www.langan.com

Looks like Perkins Eastman did both

 

[Plum Street]

Is lesniak’s name on anything ?
really should be . Maybe the parking deck . I think that’s the centerpiece of this whole thing

 

[daveo13]

Rutgers does everything on the cheap and engineering and planning is always atrocious. Contractors only bid work at RU bc they know they will make all the money on extras and do overs There is very little profit margin in most stare work. Contractors know they will make money on state employee incompetence, especially at Rutgers.

It is amazing how many doors our company had to repair at the new building by the RAC, forget the name, and Honor College building. Poor design by the architects/engineers with regards to the winds, shouldn’t be happening.

 

[RU848789]

Wasn't wowed by it, but wasn't turned off either - most important thing is we got the building...

 

[RU#1fan]

This.
Brings RU that much closer to the infrastructure at other B1G programs.

 

[Knight Shift]

Wasn't wowed by it, but wasn't turned off either - most important thing is we got the building...

A thread like this is worthless without pictures.

Not sure what the complaint is:
RWJ Barnabas Building:

Rodkin Center:

New Chemistry/Biology Building:

New Engineering Building (not a fan, but opinions on these things vary):

Maybe it would be useful to compare other B1G school new buildings (or maybe not):

Penn State:

University of Maryland new Computer Science Building

 

[patk89]

That engineering building is butt ugly. Someone should be fired. But won't be.

 

[e5fdny]

That engineering building is butt ugly. Someone should be fired. But won't be.

The original design which might still be able to be found on a Issues Board thread I thought looked really good.

One thing I found annoying is that it was never mentioned when my older Son and I were here for an Engineering Open House and Accepted Students Day. While it wasn’t finished yet (but pretty close) they didn’t talk about it at all. Nada.

 

[srru86]

Stark contrast to the Rutgers Business School.

More than a few people squawked over that one as being pretty out there.

 

[RU848789]

That engineering building is butt ugly. Someone should be fired. But won't be.

If you had spent 10 years in the hideously ugly original eng'g building, you might not have that opinion. I think it's great.

 

[Knight Shift]

If you had spent 10 years in the hideously ugly original eng'g building, you might not have that opinion. I think it's great.

Bonus prize if we can find the architect of the old eng'g building. By far, one of the ugliest and most depressing campus buildings in the history of the campus buildings. Never saw another building with that type of exterior, and perhaps there is a reason. While the new Eng'g building is not my style, it is not THAT far off from the Maryland computer science building posted above.

And there is a simple solution to those complaining--make a huge donation and you can have a say in new building architecture.

 

[soundcrib]

APC and Chemistry are very nice buildings.

RBS and Engineering are hideous.

Rodkin is in-between.

 

[RUfromSoCal?]

not to look a gift horse in the mouth.............

open-up Trigger........

 

[RU848789]

Bonus prize if we can find the architect of the old eng'g building. By far, one of the ugliest and most depressing campus buildings in the history of the campus buildings. Never saw another building with that type of exterior, and perhaps there is a reason. While the new Eng'g building is not my style, it is not THAT far off from the Maryland computer science building posted above.

And there is a simple solution to those complaining--make a huge donation and you can have a say in new building architecture.

It's all pre-fab concrete sections, which made it incredibly cheap to build - in true "value engineering" fashion, lol. In fact it only cost $5.48MM, which would be $47MM in today's dollars (vs. the $84MM for the Weeks Eng'g building, which I don't think is any larger, overall). There's a nameplate in the front of the building that says 1962 and I think it has a name there, but I doubt it's the architect's name. Weeks donated $10MM to get his name on that building - very nice guy - chatted with him the night they announced his gift a few years ago (where of course, he got an award, lol).

https://soe.rutgers.edu/looking-back-brief-history-150-years-rutgers-school-engineering

 

[CERU00]

If you had spent 10 years in the hideously ugly original eng'g building, you might not have that opinion. I think it's great.

I found the original Eng building aesthetically pleasing...at least when compared to Scott Hall.

 

[Knight177lb]

The Honors College is the only good looking new building they've done. The rest looks like crap.

 

[RU848789]

I found the original Eng building aesthetically pleasing...at least when compared to Scott Hall.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, lol - hated the eng'g bldg, but thought Scott Hall was fine...maybe because they showed pornos there, lol...

 

[brookdale-soda]

Rutgers had been mixing architectural styles for decades. I wish they had some design standards to have a consistent theme. Every project is different. Most Universities don't give such free reign to the architect. Thereis literally nothing that ties the theme of one building to the next. Every project is unique from what I can tell.

 

[CERU00]

Rutgers had been mixing architectural styles for decades. I wish they had some design standards to have a consistent theme. Every project is different. Most Universities don't give such free reign to the architect. Thereis literally nothing that ties the theme of one building to the next. Every project is unique from what I can tell.

Agree completely. As an engineering student who spent almost all my time I Busch campus, I was very jealous of those who got to hang around Voorhees mall. To make it worse the only time I had a class in the mall it was an ideology driven history class.

 

[superfan01]

RU should sue and get some money back.

 

[RUJohnny]

How much more does it cost to make a similarly sized building with stone and arches and buttresses like Princeton? I know you couldn't drop Old Nassau on Livingston, but I wish new construction on CAC could be aligned with OQ and Voorhees... as a proud colonial college, why do we reject the look and feel of one?

 

[Zak57]

Princeton has more modern buildings as well some of which that are ugly.

 

[Leonard23]

The original design which might still be able to be found on a Issues Board thread I thought looked really good.

One thing I found annoying is that it was never mentioned when my older Son and I were here for an Engineering Open House and Accepted Students Day. While it wasn’t finished yet (but pretty close) they didn’t talk about it at all. Nada.

Here's the original design from 2013 or 2014:

 

[e5fdny]

How much more does it cost to make a similarly sized building with stone and arches and buttresses like Princeton? I know you couldn't drop Old Nassau on Livingston, but I wish new construction on CAC could be aligned with OQ and Voorhees... as a proud colonial college, why do we reject the look and feel of one?

Because Livingston’s mission and the idea of it are not in tune with the “colonial college” look.

So I’m okay with that part of Rutgers looking different, out there or experimental but totally agree with you on the look of College Ave. There should be some “rules” when it comes to building there.

 

[Knight Shift]

Because Livingston’s mission and the idea of it are not in tune with the “colonial college” look.

So I’m okay with that part of Rutgers looking different, out there or experimental but totally agree with you on the look of College Ave. There should be some “rules” when it comes to building there.

RU did a good job blending the Honors College into the surrounding campus.
As far as the Yard, that area of College Ave is a hodge podge of buildings, far enough away from Old Queens and Voorhees Mall, that the design does not really bother me.

 

[rurichdog]

Bonus prize if we can find the architect of the old eng'g building. By far, one of the ugliest and most depressing campus buildings in the history of the campus buildings. Never saw another building with that type of exterior, and perhaps there is a reason. While the new Eng'g building is not my style, it is not THAT far off from the Maryland computer science building posted above.

And there is a simple solution to those complaining--make a huge donation and you can have a say in new building architecture.

There's a building on Princeton-Hightstown Road in East Windsor with similar features. Whenever my wife and I pass it, we jokingly refer to it as "Busch Campus"

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

 

[srru86]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, lol - hated the eng'g bldg, but thought Scott Hall was fine...maybe because they showed pornos there, lol...

I did see some pornos there. But as a liberal arts type - far more lectures.

Of course real old timers will remember when Engineering meant Murray Hall.

Scott Hall would likely be my first nominee, among several contenders, for fugly-est building.

 

[soundcrib]

Bring the Grease Trucks back.

 

[Sir ScarletKnight]

Here's the original design from 2013 or 2014:

I believe the decision was made to build an engineering quad over time, rather than the one huge new building. (Although I love that design.) The new Weeks Engineer building is gorgeous inside, and a lot bigger than you'd expect; they really maximized the available space and were clever about the way they designed it so it doesn't look monolithic.

You can see the precinct plan here, although I'm not sure where it's going to wind up due to budget shortfalls. The plan is to slowly decommission the current engineering building.

https://soe.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/imce/Rutgers-PrecinctStudy-FinalReport.pdf

How much more does it cost to make a similarly sized building with stone and arches and buttresses like Princeton? I know you couldn't drop Old Nassau on Livingston, but I wish new construction on CAC could be aligned with OQ and Voorhees... as a proud colonial college, why do we reject the look and feel of one?

Not sure. But the plan for 2030 at least, does include some more of that old school feel. There's not a lot being done with laying brick on campus these days, it's a lot of brick sheets that they put up in bulk. At least I think that's the process.

Old Nassau's overrated anyway, that cupola is definitely overcompensating. (It's not the original.)

Princeton has more modern buildings as well some of which that are ugly.

Princeton has its own versions of Tillet Hall, which makes me laugh.

You all might like the new Global Village building on Douglass.

 

[Leonard23]

I believe the decision was made to build an engineering quad over time, rather than the one huge new building. (Although I love that design.) The new Weeks Engineer building is gorgeous inside, and a lot bigger than you'd expect; they really maximized the available space and were clever about the way they designed it so it doesn't look monolithic.

You can see the precinct plan here, although I'm not sure where it's going to wind up due to budget shortfalls. The plan is to slowly decommission the current engineering building.

https://soe.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/imce/Rutgers-PrecinctStudy-FinalReport.pdf

Not sure. But the plan for 2030 at least, does include some more of that old school feel. There's not a lot being done with laying brick on campus these days, it's a lot of brick sheets that they put up in bulk. At least I think that's the process.

Old Nassau's overrated anyway, that cupola is definitely overcompensating. (It's not the original.)

Princeton has its own versions of Tillet Hall, which makes me laugh.

You all might like the new Global Village building on Douglass.

I like the idea of a quad or precinct, as they call it, much better than being stuck in 1 gigantic building all day. That 2030 plan looks like it eliminates all of the purple lot if phases 3-7 are implemented. I'm curious to see if or when that happens

 

[e5fdny]

I remember seeing this too in the Master Plan stuff...

I like this a lot.

And I didn't even know about these (VERY nice!)...

Probably not having a daughter is the reason why. LOL

 

[RUnTeX]

There's not a lot being done with laying brick on campus these days, it's a lot of brick sheets that they put up in bulk. At least I think that's the process.

Typically these days it's a thin brick, or brick veneer, rather than full depth brick. I'm not a mason (but there's someone else here who would know.. @koleszar) but the brick is still mortared in individually, not applied in sheets, so it's as authentic as full brick, just less weight on the facade of a building. Also, lower material cost and transport cost (due to reduced size and weight) helps rein in the budget.

 

[e5fdny]

@Sir ScarletKnight and @Leonard23 help me out with my orientation here...

I'm a little lost with regard to the Purple Lot.

 

[RUnTeX]

You all might like the new Global Village building on Douglass.

Tastefully done, looks pretty good from this angle. RU should keep this architect on speed dial, lol

 

[e5fdny]

RU did a good job blending the Honors College into the surrounding campus.
As far as the Yard, that area of College Ave is a hodge podge of buildings, far enough away from Old Queens and Voorhees Mall, that the design does not really bother me.

Dumbest name evah!

Union Place should have been the moniker. 👍