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The State University Construction Fund engaged Cannon Design to design the New Emerging Technology and Entrepreneurial Complex (ETEC) at the State University of New York at Albany. JFK&M is providing Plumbing and Fire Protection engineering design services for the project. The Emerging Technologies and Entrepreneurship Complex (ETEC) was to be designed to give businesses access to strategic academic research clusters in earth sciences, biology, chemistry, life sciences, and physics.  The project recently achieved LEED Platinum and is supported by 190 geothermal wells.

The ETEC features research and instructional labs, offices, classrooms, a business incubator, and support spaces. ETEC’s advanced research facilities will foster strategic partnerships, cultivate industry collaboration, accelerate commercialization, and fuel future research. Thus, the ETEC facility will create a breakthrough research and development facility for business, industry, and government, increasing access to the University’s nationally recognized academic and research programs, and business development and technology transfer expertise.

This project progressed to the DD Phase or 70% Design Stage when the Governor decided to change the site of the Complex to the Harriman State Office Building Campus to co-locate ETEC with the new College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity. This change required a complete redesign of the project. The guiding principles for the design of the ETEC project were re-evaluated and revised to reflect the new site. Three concept designs were submitted. The selected one was “the contour”: a four story scheme with a partial lower level and a central organizing atrium reinforcing collaboration and the inter-disciplinary mission of the building. This concept achieved the following:

• Building form required the least amount of cut and fill.
• This scheme has a clear, welcoming singular entry for student, pedestrian, and vehicular access.
• It provides a strong visual link back to UAlbany through a safe landscaped pedestrian connection.
• The single, central atrium, where all building occupants come together, promotes collaboration and entrepreneurism and provides a clear understandable organization.
• Overall building form related to the existing buildings on the UAlbany Campus, the Edward Durell Stone Master Plan, and the previous ETEC design.

ETEC is UAlbany’s newest state-of-the-art and environmentally sustainable facility, and the largest largest instructional building on the Uptown Campus, housing 40+ labs, more than 200 full-time faculty and researchers, and 100 research/industry partners. The project of ETEC aligns with SUNY’s goal to achieve net zero carbon emissions.