Always been interested in the game of dominoes? Then the recent expansion of the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is for you. The building, named Business Innovation Hub and designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), offers study and social spaces and features a striking copper domino façade.
Business Innovation Hub measures some 6,500 m². The exterior is made of vertical copper pillars that keep sloping downwards to form a large triangular glass entrance. As a result, it looks as if falling giant dominoes point the way to the entrance. What is still shiny copper now will patina over time and take on the characteristic green colour.
The new Business Innovation Hub has a curved linear structure that loops through to form a courtyard where student life takes place. In doing so, the domino facade seems to invite students to move from one building section to another. The shops housed in the new building and the courtyard form a forum where society and students meet.
The triangular entrance gives access to a multi-level atrium with dining and seating areas. Elsewhere are classrooms, faculty offices as well as interview and conference rooms. According to the architects, sunlight naturally illuminates each corridor and space. At the centre of the building is the circular courtyard, with a garden and stone seating areas. This is connected by two paths to the main university campus. A glass bridge and a copper bridge connect the extension to the main Isenberg School of Management building.
