Clemson’s most technologically advanced facility to date expands research capabilities and encourages interdisciplinary collaboration among students and faculty.
Clemson University recently cut the ribbon on the new Advanced Materials Innovation Complex (AMIC) on the school’s main campus in Clemson, South Carolina. The 143,000 sq.-ft., four-story building, for which HOK served as architect, interior designer and landscape architect, centralizes materials science-related classrooms, laboratories and offices that were previously scattered across the college grounds.
AMIC provides collaborative spaces for faculty and students in the university’s three core advanced materials departments: Materials Science and Engineering (for which AMIC is now the headquarters), Chemistry, and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. These enhanced opportunities for multidisciplinary research and education support Clemson’s Carnegie R1 research institution designation. The building will serve as home base for more than 300 research faculty and graduate students at a time, and more than 12,000 students are expected to use the labs annually.
The $130-million completion adds much-needed lab space with five undergraduate teaching labs, including one dedicated to 3D prototyping with metal and ceramic printers. A scanning-electron microscope—equipment typically reserved for graduate-level researchers—is available to undergraduates here. Adaptable lab configurations will enable students to gain hands-on experience while allowing the building to evolve alongside advances in materials sciences.
Designed to achieve Two Green Globes certification, AMIC features a bright, open interior. A massive feature wall in the three-story atrium and wood tables and benches throughout the facility are made from trees felled when the site was cleared for construction. Outside, an electrochromic glass curtainwall and brick exterior integrate the existing campus aesthetic.
See inside Clemson’s Advanced Materials Innovation Complex here:
South Carolina is home to more than 960 advanced materials companies, a sector that generated more than $1.5 billion in capital investment and more than 5,200 new jobs in the state over six years, according to the Department of Commerce. AMIC reinforces Clemson and South Carolina among national leaders in advanced materials, supporting industries including advanced manufacturing, transportation, energy, health and computing. By creating space for the latest equipment and uniting multiple departments under one roof, the building helps attract top scholars and accelerate innovation fueled by cross-disciplinary exchange.