Department of Earth Science Building Renovation

As part of an Earth Science Department enhancement, the University has authorized an ambitious renovation project for the 50 year old Keith Wiess Geological Laboratory Building. The renovation is patterned after that of the highly successful 3rd floor renovation of the architecturally similar Space Physics Building. The renovated 3rd floor of the Space Physics Building now houses the Rice Center for Nanotechnology.

The renovation includes demolishing the building interior to the concrete frame, enclosing the building in a glass curtain wall, and reconstructing the interior lab space from the frame up. The heating and air conditioning systems, electrical wiring, safety systems, and most of the building plumbing are also being replaced.

Rice has employed two architectural firms to design the renovation, Watkins, Hamilton and Ross, and Bricker-Cannady. The construction is being done by Gilbane Building Company.

The renovation, begun in May 2003, consists of three phases:

• Phase 1A: May-December 2001: 3rd floor: Construct geochemistry laboratories and academic offices and enclose south side of building with glass curtain wall. Phase 1A is now complete.
• Phase 1B: December 2001-June 2002: 3rd floor: Construct geophysics laboratories, network and computer rooms, and academic offices.
• Phase 2 : 2003-2004: 2nd floor: Enclose north side of building with glass curtain wall, and construct sedimentology, structure and tectonics, and geochemistry laboratories and academic offices.
• Phase 3 : 2004-2005: 1st floor: Construct classrooms, administrative and academic offices, rock lab, physical modeling lab, electronics lab, and sedimentology core lab.

Each floor in the renovated building will have

• A conference room,
• A lobby and informal meeting area,
• A coffee-lunch area,
• Women's and men's restrooms.
• All offices will have windows.
• The second floor will house a department library.
• The third floor will house the computers of the Center for Computational Geophysics.

The reconstructed building will accommodate

• 18 full time faculty ( As part of the Department enhancement, the University has provided us with 2 new faculty positions)
• 4 emeritus faculty
• 4 visiting scientists (As part of the Department enhancement, we have started the Wiess Visiting Scientist Program)
• 60 graduate students
• 10 post-doctoral researchers
• 5-6 technical staff (As part of the Department enhancement, the University has provided us with 3 new technical staff positions)
• 6 administrative staff

Here is a preview of the new 3rd floor plan:

Here are the planned exterior views:

Despite the work on the building we have had to relocate only 4 people to the nearby Biology building.

Demolition

Surprisingly, the building noise levels were relatively low during the demolition on the 3rd floor. Click here to see pictures taken by Dr. Julie Morgan during and after the demolition.
Click here to see pictures of the 3rd floor east wing after renovation was completed.