New Mexico State University
Skeen Hall - Las Cruces NM 

Set against the dramatic backdrop of the Organ Mountains, the contemporary design of Skeen Hall is deeply evocative of early Mission Style architecture. The architecture of the Hall references early campus buildings designed by Trost and Trost through the use of sloped, red clay tile roofs, roof brackets, articulated stucco details and architectural precast features at the entries and the window sills.

Skeen Hall contains four distinct volumes. A symbolic, domed " bell tower" caps the central octagon which houses the entrance lobby and offices above. Flanking the octagon, two large rectangular wings accommodate laboratory spaces, offices and seminar rooms. At the end of the laboratory wing, the fourth volume houses special-use laboratories such as the insect quarantine lab and the electron microscopes. This wing also forms the third side of a large courtyard space. 

Skeen Hall serves as the final element in the completion of a master plan concept which uses both architectural and landscape elements to integrate the east and west campuses.
                                   

The program for this 116,000 sf building directed that the design should support an interdisciplinary approach to scientific research and teaching and that it should provide flexible teaching space to accommodate future technologies. Administrative offices for faculty and graduate students are also provided.

Building Elements

• This complex harmonizes with the historic NMSU campus through its use of materials, scale and massing, portals and walls of native stone

• Computer Classrooms with GIS are networked for remote sensing at world-wide sites and are linked to NASA satellites

• Laboratory areas use 100% supply and exhaust systems with heat recovery for energy efficiency

• A 30" deep concrete pan joist system isolates the scientific instrumentation in the laboratory wing from vibration

• The ambitious construction schedule was facilitated by the Contractor's ability to place 50,000 sf of elevated slabs in a nine week period

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