McCardell Bicentennial Hall
Opened in the fall of 1999, this facility replaced the older science center, and combined under one roof the disciplines of Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Physics, Psychology, Geology, Geography, and Environmental Studies. McCardell Bicentennial hall includes 108,000 net square feet, about 190,000 gross square feet, of instructional space, library, offices, student and faculty research space, and support space.
Among the spaces in McCardell Bicentennial Hall is a technically advanced complex of adjoining lecture halls suitable for conferences. The complex includes fully equipped lecture halls for 150, 100, 60, and 50 students. In addition, there are three 35 student classrooms, five seminar rooms accommodating up to 20 students each, four instructional spaces for progressive computer instruction, and twelve generic teaching laboratories. The offices for six of the College's twenty six departments is located in the building. The additional classroom space in Bicentennial Hall carries the College easily through the anticipated growth of the student body and also provides flexibility in room scheduling. Fully half of our students have at least one class in McCardell Bicentennial Hall each week. The circulation spaces, including a Great Hall, minimize the congestion while maintaining a sense of granduer and innovation.
Animal Care Facility
The highest construction cost, on a per square foot space basis, is the animal care facility. It is located on level two of the north wing. Laboratories for faculty and student research which require animals are located near this space. Its completion brings Middlebury into full compliance with federal regulations covering the use of vertebrate animals in research. These regulations also require that animals not be moved from building to building except through temperature-regulated connecting structures. Departments and programs that use or may use vertebrate animals have been put together in McCardell Bicentennial Hall so as to avoid the need to have duplicate animal care facilities.
Armstrong Library (Science Library)
The science library occupies the lower two floors of the west wing of McCardell Bicentennial Hall, an area of about 6,500 square feet. The substantial size of the library and its prominent location within the building reflect our expectation of its heavy use by all Middlebury College students. The attractive study spaces in McCardell Bicentennial Hall, within the library and without, have made the science library a focus of student life in the new building.
The location of the library provides spectacular pastoral views to the west of campus, framed by the Adirondack Mountains. The northern wall of the library, a window wall looking through the 90-foot-long colonnade of the principal western entrance to McCardell Bicentennial Hall, provides ample natural light to the library spaces.
Within the library there is space sufficient for housing the entire science collection. In addition, there is almost 3,600 square feet of study space within the library. Four 200-square-foot group study rooms have north or northwestern views, while the 525-square-foot seminar and instructional space offers a secluded study area on the lower floor of the library. The remainder of the seating is in the large public area on the top floor of the library or in carrels on the lower floor.