Art and engineering building, the James D. Hughes Center, on track for fall completion

Janel Shoun | 

The James D. Hughes Center
 
In 2006, Lipscomb announced its “2010 Initiative,” an ambitious $40 million expansion in academic and campus projects. Thanks to alumni and friends, and despite one of the worst economic downturns in United States history, the 2010 Initiative was completed in 2009.
 
The 2010 initiative addressed a critical need for updated—and more—classroom space. Burton and Collins were rehabed. An impressive new music addition was built. Improvements were made in Ezell. 
 
But the crown jewel of the university’s physical growth began coming out of the ground in December 2009: the James D. Hughes Center, a 25,300-square-foot arts and engineering building that was paid for before the first shovel of dirt was turned. 
 
This also marked the first academic building to “break” the university’s traditional footprint north of the present campus, defying perceptions that the university was “landlocked” by our neighborhood. It is under construction north of the present Crisman Administration Building and is expected to be complete in October.
 
“I am often asked, how Lipscomb can grow given its present campus boundary limitations,” said President L. Randolph Lowry. “Thanks to a visionary master plan that will double our campus size in the next few years — and to neighbors and supporters who have worked with us to acquire the necessary property — we have taken an important step north. The fact is we have plenty of geography, and energy, to expand our vision.”
 
The university’s approved master plan will eventually extend the campus one block north to Grandview Drive, a plan that surrounding neighbors have been closely involved in for more than a decade. The total institutional overlay allows Lipscomb to one day double the size of 2009’s campus.
 
The three-story Hughes Center will house Lipscomb’s Department of Art in the College of Arts and Sciences, including:
  • An art gallery;
  • A photography darkroom;
  • A ceramics studio;
  • A painting studio;
  • A drawing studio;
  • A printmaking studio;
  • A graphic design lab;
  • A sculpture studio; and
  • A mixed media studio.
 
Hughes will also include transitional space for the Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering, with a dual-purpose robotics and renewable energy lab and two problem-solving labs designed to enhance creative innovation with flexible-use space and computer resources.
 
 
 
 
Engineering and art brought together in “collaboratories” and studios
 
Whether it’s electrical signals, transmitters, solar panels or fluid dynamics, students in the Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering spend their present learning how to build the future!
The Hughes Center’s innovative new problem-solving labs, dubbed “collaboratories” due to their purposeful design, enhance collaboration among students and professors.
 
“It’s a think tank kind of space that encourages students to work innovatively and think creatively, in teams or on their own,” said Fred Gilliam, dean of the College of Engineering. “This will be a space unlike any the engineering department currently has on campus.”
The “collaboratories” are designed with open space, flexible and easy-to-move equipment, and features such as glass walls for jotting down notes.
 
A third engineering lab will include robotic equipment, designed to teach students the power of robotics technology and measuring equipment designed to teach renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.
 
For the art department, Hughes will include a main floor art gallery and multiple studios, including four studios bathed in natural light from a skylight on the roof. An outdoor sculpture work area and display space will be included on the grounds.
 
The operative word for the Hughes Center is “creative,” and the art and engineering departments expect to merge their creativity in a number of ways, including, for instance, creating kinetic sculpture that art students would design and engineering students would bring to life with movement.
 
“That is the kind of cooperation that makes this pairing in the Hughes Center an exciting combination,” said Laura Lake Smith, chair of the Lipscomb art department.
 
The dual nature of the Hughes building is also reflected in the exterior columns, designed to  designed to look like an abstract version of steel columns. They are reminiscent of steel girders, to bring in the engineering side, but are designed in a creative, abstract way, to bring in the artistic side.
 
 
 
Hughes building built with green construction methods
 
Lipscomb will use green construction methods and materials in building the Hughes Center, including:
  • Recycled building materials and content;
  • Low-emission sealants, paints, coatings and flooring systems;
  • Efficient use of windows for natural light and heating;
  • Water-efficient landscaping and storm water drainage methods;
  • Enhanced refrigerant management;
  • Maximized open space; and
  • Bicycle racks and designated parking for hybrid vehicles.