Howard Hall for Social Sciences

Howard Hall will enhance cohesiveness within the Social Sciences Division, enhancing communication and collaboration among faculty and students. Most importantly, it will give these departments a competitive edge in recruiting outstanding faculty and students to Lewis & Clark.

The three-story building will provide more than 50,000 square feet of academic space, including state-of-the-art classrooms and faculty offices, instructional space ranging from large lecture halls to intimate seminar rooms, and attractive public spaces.

Construction began May 2003 and will be completed in fall 2004. View architect's renderings of Howard Hall for Social Sciences.

Environmentally Sustainable Architecture

Howard Hall is designed as a model of environmentally sustainable architecture and to minimize long-term operational and maintenance costs. In 2002, its design won an environmental sustainability award from the Oregon chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Howard will be the College's "greenest" building to date, following closely on the heels of three new residence halls also heralded for their environmentally friendly design. Some of the environmentally sustainable and cost-effective architectural elements of Howard Hall include:

• energy consumption estimated to be 40 percent less than that of a conventional building;
• a direct and indirect day lighting system to provide optimum natural light and shading;
• a storm water filtration system to capture and filter runoff from roofs. Runoff will be collected and used for landscape irrigation across campus;
• a night cooling system to flush the building at night with cooler air and remove air contaminants;
• wood, masonry, and concrete derived from local sources and extracted and prepared using low-energy processes;
• an electrical and communications cabling system to enable changes in the building layout with minimal renovation.