The site for the Knight Campus Building 2 is located in UO's evolving North Campus adjacent to Building 1 to which it is connected via sky bridge. On the east is an urban edge to the city and on the west it is framed by open green space.

The mission to accelerate scientific impact hinges on the ability to foster a user experience that yields a fertile research environment. For the Knight Campus Building 2, beyond state-of-the-art functional and technical accommodations, the challenge of creating an “innovation ecosystem” translated into two notions: encouraging user interaction and collaboration, and promoting well-being and delight through uplifting spaces connected to daylight and nature.

The nudge needed for researchers to engage in conversation can be as simple as a visual connection, or a serendipitous collision on a common path that cross-pollinates the research ecosystem. To this end, active occupant engagement during the design process for the Knight Campus Building 2 led to the idea of interlacing and corrugating spaces—balancing scale, visual connectivity, and privacy.

Intellectual exchanges are supported by providing primary and secondary layers of interaction space—structured and unstructured, indoor and outdoor—arranged to be within general view without being overexposed. The building folds around the users at varying scales, encouraging an uninterrupted flow of inquiry and exploration.

Upon entering the building from its primary south entrance, a two-story volume – the Forum – serves as the “living room” and social heart of the building. Strategically placed public amenities on the ground level are linked by the Forum, itself serving a convening function. In addition to a welcoming lobby and the public café, a large seminar room at the forefront of the Forum offers flexibility for a variety of events. The centrally located Biofabrication and Bioanalysis Core Facility is within view of the Forum, intended to serve as a research and scientific showcase.

The second floor remains open above the Forum along the southwest elevation, offering a diversity of private hang out and larger meeting spaces through “corrugations” – nooks and crannies – in the circulation pathways and off the central stairs. The intent is to provide a balance of spaces for both privacy and collaboration, one of the key requests that came out of the DEI outreach efforts. Teaching labs and student maker spaces are located on this floor, as is the bridge connection to Building 1. The first of the experimentalist research labs and office neighborhoods are to the north of the Forum. All users can access a large outdoor terrace overlooking the greenspace and west plaza below, while capturing views of Building 1.

Levels 3 and 4 comprise the interconnected research neighborhoods in the east bar, laminated to the office suites, write up and collaboration spaces on the west. Suspended two-level courtyard terraces articulate the building mass on the west, and offer an outdoor extension of the office environment with direct views to the green open space. With a connecting staircase, these volumes evoke a treehouse quality while being covered from above to offer year-round use in the potentially wet, Northwest climate.

The building is targeting LEED Gold certification. High performance façades optimize window-to-wall ratios, complemented by layers of exterior shading, including interlaced canopies and faceted fins. The resulting façade patterns echo the filament texture observed in titanium scaffold bone implants developed by the Knight Campus’s own human performance labs.

Over 40% energy savings is achieved through daylight harvesting and efficient HVAC design, which includes heat recovery, chilled beams, and enhanced ventilation with high-quality filtration to improve indoor air quality.