Princeton University Neuroscience & Psychology Building

The Neuroscience & Psychology Building completes the science quad at the south side of the Princeton University campus west of Washington Road. The building is connected with the science quad across Washington Road through the pedestrian bridge whose curvilinear form is extended in the interstitial between the two buildings of Neuroscience and Psychology. The two departments had to share common spaces but at the same time have distinct identities. Thus Psychology extends vertically while Neuroscience expands horizontally. While the Psychology tower has a simple typology with the vertical services at the core, the design of the Neuroscience building is driven by its dense science research program. At 248,000 square feet, the buildings house 5 different research laboratory areas of research on the brain with offices for faculty, students and researchers for 550 users, classes for instruction, a lecture hall, a study hall and lounges for the neuroscience and psychology faculties. The curtain wall system uses two types of custom made glass. A double glass wall with a cast glass as a rain screen that provides translucent natural light in the lab spaces and on the curved surfaces a pearl glass whose luminosity blurs the boundaries of the two volumes. Interior spaces are designed to create a more domesticated atmosphere and allow for ample interaction between the members of the different scientific communities.