The Rice University Cambridge project consists of a six-story mixed-use building that introduces a new scale to a mature campus district defined by live oaks, an alee of cedar elms, and buildings of many vintages. The consists of offices, meeting rooms, classrooms, a classroom lab, huddle rooms, and break areas. The seven-floor, 159,000-square-foot cast-in-place parking garage has over 500 parking spaces, including spaces for electronic cars and golf carts. The garage houses a secured bike rack storage area and the mechanical and maintenance spaces for the building. To preserve the University’s existing aesthetic, the garage was disguised with leaf images on large plastic scrims made of lightweight breathable poly mesh in an aluminum framing system.
