The Harm A. Weber Academic Center is a four-story, 88,000-square-foot building on the campus of Judson University in Elgin, Illinois. It houses the campus library and the School of Art, Design and Architecture, along with classrooms, academic offices, studios and a gallery. A bowtie-shaped link joins the classroom, studio and library wings.
Short & Associates of London won a university design competition for the project. The walls are clad in more than 104,000 square feet of flat metal panels in a copper-penny finish, chosen to give the look of copper at lower cost and with less risk of theft.
The building was designed around sustainability. Walls set four feet from the concrete structure draw cool air up through the building, a reflective roof reduces heat, and an integrated photovoltaic system generates power. It is LEED Gold certified and is described as one of the most energy-efficient buildings of its kind in North America.
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