Bridge for Laboratory Sciences

The Bridge for Laboratory Sciences is a two-story laboratory and classroom building on the campus of Vassar College in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York. Designed by Ennead Architects, the 80,000sqft structure curves across the Fonteyn Kill and connects to the renovated Olmsted Hall as part of the Integrated Science Center project.HistoryVassar College in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, began a project to completely renovate New England Building and Sanders Physics Building, partially renovate Olmsted Hall, and construct a new science center in 2011. In anticipation of the building's construction, Vassar's Environmental Research Institute, in conjunction with Cornell University's Cooperative Extension Dutchess County began to monitor the water quality of the Fonteyn Kill, a stream that runs through Vassar's campus over which the building was to be built. The Bridge for Laboratory Sciences (or the Bridge for short) cost $90 million in 2013. The main construction team was Daniel O'Connell and Sons with architectural design by Ennead Architects. The Bridge opened on January 4, 2016.Architecture and featuresThe Bridge stands two stories tall and spans across the Fonteyn Kill. On one end, it connects to the renovated Olmsted Hall, making up the "Integrated Science Center", a facility with a total combined area of. On its other end, the building lets out near Skinner Hall for Music. Before the building's construction, people seeking to cross the Fonteyn Kill needed to descend a flight of stairs to cross a footbridge but the Bridge for Laboratory Sciences is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, making it a more accessible link across the kill. A variety of techniques are being used to prevent birds from colliding with the Bridge for Laboratory Sciences, including shading fins and an ultraviolet glaze applied to exterior windows visible to birds but not to humans.