The Technological Institute at Northwestern University’s Evanston Campus is one of the largest academic buildings in the world. Originally designed by Holabird & Root and constructed in the early 1940s, it features over 750,000 square feet of classrooms, offices, laboratories and research facilities. It houses the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science as well as the departments of chemistry, physics, and astronomy from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.

The New Infills project ‘in-fills’ two spaces between existing wings of the building with new five-story building additions to create approximately 100,000 square feet of new programmable area. The new additions include specialized spaces such as multiple atria and a clean room as well as offices and general laboratory space. The project was designed to achieve a LEED Silver certification.

Primera provided civil engineering, fire protection design and permitting services for the three new building additions. Primera’s sitework designs overcame several challenges posed by the tight constraints of the existing conditions, and all site design was fully ADA-compliant. The fire protection design featured specialized systems for sprinkler coverage within the technically specialized clean room and laboratory areas, and for smoke control within each atrium area.