When you consider the ideation happening on Wichita State University’s 120-acre Innovation Campus, in Wichita, Kan., it’s easy to understand why the look and function of its buildings are key to highlighting and reflecting the advancements and successes happening on-site.
Photo: alanblakely.com
A Growing Community
This unique hub serves as a test bed for technology and innovation—a place where companies nationwide can come together to explore and revolutionize within their respective industries. Featuring everything from research laboratories and offices to student residences and mixed-use facilities, the Innovation Campus also houses an impressive group of 20-plus organizations—including Deloitte, Airbus, Hyatt Corp., and Wesley Healthcare—that conduct work on-site and shoulder-to-shoulder with students and faculty.
As interest in its Innovation Campus grows, Wichita State University continues to add new facilities to the site. Every day, the campus connects students to valuable internships and job prospects by giving them the chance to work on real-world solutions. This collaboration is mutually beneficial: graduates get to begin their careers sooner and advance faster, and organizations are connected with prospective hires who have relevant, hands-on experience.
Completed in 2020, the 60,000-square-foot Partnership Building 3 is one of the latest additions to Wichita State University’s Innovation Campus. The three-story building currently serves as a home for NetApp, a hybrid cloud data services and data management company.
Photo: alanblakely.com
Smart Design
Wichita State University wants all new buildings on the Innovation Campus to reflect the high-tech, modern happenings on-site, but also fit in with existing buildings. Using cost-effective materials, such as metal wall panel systems, allows the university to offer attractive lease rates to prospective corporate partners.
The local offices of design firm GLMV and installation firm Mahaney Group incorporated a series of different metal wall panel profiles and colors on Partnership Building 3. Because metal panels are used on several other buildings throughout Innovation Campus, Partnership Building 3 complements its neighbors while also showing off its own identity.
Partnership Building 3 is the only Innovation Campus building that includes three different metal wall panel profiles:
- PAC-CLAD Highline S1 panels in Silver clad the majority of the exterior
- PAC-CLAD flat sheet in Matte Black create flat panels for window area surrounds
- PAC-CLAD Snap-On panels in Bone White spotlight the main entrance and window areas
Due to the installation-friendly metal wall panel system and prompt ongoing support from Petersen, GLMV and Mahaney Group completed the project within a tight two-month timeframe. Because of this positive experience, designers are already specifying PAC-Clad Metal Wall Panel Systems for future campus buildings.
As for Partnership Building 3, it stands as a beacon of innovation where students, faculty, and business professionals work together as part of an interconnected community.
Learn more about the Wichita State University project here.
