Civil Engineering & Architectural Design Capstone 2023
This past spring, the capstone courses for the Civil Engineering and the Architectural Design majors in CEE were conducted jointly and examined the planning and design of a structure that integrated architecture, structural engineering, building envelope design, environmental engineering, hydrology, fluid mechanics, geotechnical engineering, sustainability, and construction.
Students worked in cross-disciplinary teams to design a multi-purpose academic building on campus inspired by the idea of supporting activities for the Codiga Resource Recovery Center. The building program required 45,000 ft2 of office, teaching, and lab space, including a “high-bay” of approximately 5000 ft2. Students from three different majors joined these capstone courses to design the building’s form, structural systems, building envelope, and a green roof capable of tying into the University’s water systems.
The architectural designs included forms inspired by traditional academic courtyards to center nature, Voronoi tessellation, and continuous flow through nature. Structural systems explored included long-span mass timber and reinforced concrete domes and shells. Design variations for the green roof included visual vs. accessible experiences, types of plants and foliage, considerations for soil, drainage, and waterproofing, as well as potential for on-site water treatment.
The capstone courses concluded on June 6, 2023, with each team presenting their design to a panel of evaluators consisting of architects and engineers from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in San Francisco and Stanford CEE faculty and lecturers. A huge thank you and shout out to course instructors Leo Chow, Mark Sarkisian, Dr. Kyle Douglas, and Dr. Derek Fong for their guidance and congratulations to the amazing, hard-working students who produced such inspiring work!
