Officials at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) have long contended that its 400-acre campus bulged at the seams. So to keep growing while preserving open space, recent building projects showcase novel land-saving approaches: university-designed offices "laminated" onto the street side of a parking garage, for example, or Rafael Vinoly's nanotechnology labs, which span 200 feet across a parking garage.Across the way is the LEED-rated La Kretz Hall, which grafts the school's Institute for the Environment atop a 5 million-gallon chilled-water tank. Seizing upon its tight site and physical-plant podium, SmithGroup turned the new teaching facility into strong statement about elegant efficiency and sustainability. Stairs and lobby spaces are mostly outdoors; inside, many rooms receive natural ventilation and daylighting. The top of the water tank serves also as a terrace-and the cool underside of an air plenum supplying a 350-seat auditorium by means of displacement effect.
 
To enhance air circulation-and acoustics-SmithGroup design principal Mark McVay specified Techstyle® acoustical panels for the ceiling's main section. Though the surface appears monolithic, the porous materials allow air through to return grilles while also providing enough barrier to promote convective air currents. "It was a very high-performance acoustic material, but totally smooth-looking," says McVay, adding that its recycled content and low VOCs made it even more suitable for their environmentally conscious client.
 
The auditorium backs up to a semicircular distance-learning center, which also has Techstyle® panels. Tucked in between, under the steeply raked auditorium seating, are two seminar rooms, effectively creating a small conference center for the institute's frequent programs.
 
The internal planning echoes the university's campus-wide jigsaw puzzle, and McVay's design accentuates the mixing and stacking of uses. A bullet-shaped mass of banded brick, echoing the chiller plant, is capped by a modernist pavilion of glass and steel. While the form suggests a fracturing, this green building pulls together academics and infrastructure in a completely original solution.