AMES, Iowa -- A ceremonial groundbreaking for the pavilion addition to the Iowa State University College of Design building will be at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, on the north side of the building.
Among the speakers are Iowa State alumni Steven and Barbara King, who provided the lead gift of $1.5 million for the new $6.25 million, two-story facility. This is the largest outright commitment ever made to the College of Design.
"We have always believed in giving back, and Iowa State is a special place to both of us," Barb King said.
The Kings graduated from Iowa State in 1968; Steve received a bachelor of landscape architecture degree, and Barb received a bachelor's degree in food science. In 1971 they founded Landscape Structures, Inc., an innovative children's play equipment company based in Delano, Minn. The company is now an industry leader in safe, sustainable design practices.
Construction of the 23,500-gross-square-foot pavilion will begin later this year and be completed in early 2009. The first new "green" structure on campus, the addition will use energy-saving techniques, such as natural ventilation, daylighting, storm-water control with a "living" roof, unique site design and recycled building materials.
"We are proud to be a part of the pavilion, and its being the first new green building at Iowa State. Sustainability is extremely important to both of us and for everyone's future," said Steve King.
When completed, the new facility will feature a central, two-story "forum" surrounded by instructional studios on all sides. The project also includes break-out lecture and critique spaces, enhanced model work room and shop, recycling center and spray room. The space will be home primarily to freshman students in the College of Design's Core Design Program, as well as sophomore students in the first year of their professional programs.
"The pavilion will finally make the collegiate community 'whole' with a contiguous set of studios for our entering students," said Mark Engelbrecht, dean of the College of Design. "At the same time, the addition and surrounding gardens will provide a living laboratory for the study of sustainable design practices that will prove useful to the larger collegiate enterprise, and, we hope, to the university community generally."
Created in 1978, the College of Design offers programs in architecture, art and design, community and regional planning, graphic design, interior design, integrated studio arts and landscape architecture. The college also administers a multidisciplinary geographic information systems (GIS) graduate certificate program.
Of the $6.25 million total cost of the new pavilion, $3.25 million is from private gifts, with the remainder from institutional sources. Private gifts are made through the ISU Foundation, a private, nonprofit corporation dedicated to securing and managing gifts and grants that benefit Iowa State University.
