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Description of Project
The new Aurora facility is a two-story 77,000 square foot facility located on the MSU Innovation
Campus. The facility will front Garfield Street on the west side of the property with the existing ARL
facility to the east.
The facility will have an occupancy use of Business – B and Factory F-1. The construction type will
be Type III-B and will be provided with fire sprinklers.
The building will be 35 feet tall on the two story side of the facility.
There will not be any residential (dwellings) in this facility.
Site and Building Access
The facility will be able to be accessed off of Innovation Way (formerly 27th Avenue) from either Garfield
Street or Technology Boulevard. Access from 27th Avenue will be primarily for the Aurora facility with
mixed parking along the access road. The main entry to the building will be to the north off of this access
road with an atrium that connects to the south side of the facility.
The site is zoned BP and is surrounded by either existing commercial development or infill commercial
development to the west, north and east. To the south of the property on the south side of Garfield
Street is agricultural land owned by Montana State University. The building will be placed in the southeast
corner of the area near the intersection of 27th Street and Garfield in order to have a prominent entry to
the campus from Garfield Street but also to meet the design standards required by the City of Bozeman.
There will be some parking on the north side of the building and with majority on the west side of the
building with adequate access to the facility. There will be a vehicular access route and area on the east
side of the facility for vehicles to access the facility in order to allow Aurora to work on these vehicles.
This area will be primarily screened with a wall and partial roof over this area as well as landscaping in
front of the screen walls. There will be a shipping and delivery area on the west side of the facility that will
be at grade with the rest of the parking lot. A scissor lift will be supplied below grade to accommodate
elevation needs for any trucks. In total 190 parking spaces will be provided per our use and occupancy
calculations based on the Bozeman UDC. See our site plan drawings for additional parking calculation
information.
Adjacent to the building on the west side will be the garbage enclosure that will be screened with a gate
and provided with a roof per the City of Bozeman Design code. It is the intention of the design team to
utilize this screened area to also screen any site utilities in this area.
OVERALL BUILDING DESIGN
The composition of the new Aurora facility will be harmonious with the campus design standards and
goals as well as the existing ARL facility to the east. The design of facility will have an atrium space that
organizes the flow of people and function of the facility. Within this space, daylight will be accessible from
the north, south and west sides of the building to provide quality daylight and bring a sense of warmth to
the mass timber framed two-story volume. The atrium space from the exterior will be framed by an
accentuated wrap that creates depth from the facade but connects the north side of the building to the
south side of the building in a single move.
The east side of the building will be the two-story office and lab space. This space will have a series of
wide openings for storefront glazing to maximize daylighting opportunities deep into the space. The first
floor will have a dark grey brick base composed with the storefront openings. The upper floor will have a
white metal panel in various widths at bands around the building to provide variation and interest to the
facade that ties the whole building together.
The west side of the building or the production area will be framed by pre-cast concrete panels that uses
proportion and rhythm and repetition to create an interesting yet simple composition. The precast panels
will have a thin-brick exterior or vertical board-form concrete appearance to aide in the visual aesthetic of
the panels.
The design of the new Aurora facility is timeless in its design approach through simple articulation of
regional materials and composition.