Building
The Beneski Earth Sciences Building, which opened in 2006, houses both the geology program and the Beneski Museum of Natural History. Designed by Payette Associates, the 55,800-square-foot (5,180 m2) building pays homage to the strong design features of surrounding buildings such as Fayerweather Hall. The building has won the most architectural awards of any Amherst College building, receiving the 2007 Honor American Institute of Architects New England Chapter, and the 2008 Best in Class Brick in Architecture Award in the Educational Building category.
The overall building design was driven by the tenets of integrated learning and the belief that students learn science best by actively participating in the research process. Many conventional classrooms were replaced with teaching laboratories that combine different research functions within single research labs, as well as provide easy access to the vast collections of the museum of natural history.
The building’s southern exposure faces the Holyoke Range and its instructive geoformations; landscaping incorporates 35 tons of rocks brought in from the Adirondack Mountains; and the bathroom countertops vary by floor, made of igneous rocks on one level, metamorphic rocks on another, and sedimentary rocks on yet a third.
==See also==
- List of Museums in the United States
Read more about this topic: Amherst College Museum Of Natural History
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