September 2025.
Koffolt Labs and the CBEC Building are part of the Biomedical and Materials Engineering Complex, which also includes Fontana Labs and MacQuigg Lab (which is being renovated). The complex is located on the north engineering campus, bordered by Scott House to the north, Smith Lab to the south, Fontana Labs to the east, and the Physics Research Building to the west.
Prior to the construction of the CBEC Building, the site was occupied by four connected buildings: Haskett Hall, Boyd Lab, Johnston Lab, and the Aviation Building.
Haskett Hall History
The Engineering Experiment Station under construction c. 1924-1925. (Knowlton Archives)
Haskett Hall was designed in 1924 as the “Engineering Experiment Station” by university architect Joseph N. Bradford. Its construction began in September 1924, the general contractor being D. W. McGrath & Sons, and it was completed by October 1925. The building had a reinforced concrete and steel frame, and it had a rather bare brick Neoclassical exterior.
Haskett Hall’s simple footprint.
The Engineering Experiment Station shortly after its completion in 1925, looking southeast from Woodruff Avenue. (Buckeye Stroll)
Interestingly, the Photography Department was originally intended to move into Hitchcock Hall after that building’s construction, but the department moved into Haskett Hall instead while maintaining space in Brown Hall.
Haskett Hall shortly before its demolition. (Knowlton Archives)
The Engineering Experiment Station was renamed to “Haskett Hall” in May 1968, after Frank Haskett, who was the first professor of photography at Ohio State and department chair from 1929 to 1934.
Boyd Lab History
The Highway Testing Laboratory nearing completion. This photo looks southeast from Woodruff Avenue. (Buckeye Stroll)
In April 1931, the Board of Trustees approved a proposal that would allow Ohio’s highway department to build an addition to the Engineering Experiment Station (Haskett Hall) for laboratory use. The “Highway Testing Laboratory,” as it was originally known, was designed by university architect Howard Dwight Smith in 1932. Its construction began that April and fully concluded by April 1933. It was designed in a complementary Neoclassical style, having the same structural and exterior design.
Boyd Lab’s footprint as it relates to Haskett Hall.
Boyd Lab’s south entrance in 1965. (Buckeye Stroll)
The Highway Department occupied the building until 1961, when it was transferred to Ohio State. It went largely unused at first, except for some of the Engineering Experiment Station’s functions. An extensive renovation began in April 1964. After its conclusion in 1965, the building was assigned to the Department of Engineering Mechanics.
Boyd Lab shortly before its demolition. (Knowlton Archives)
The Highway Testing Laboratory was renamed to “Boyd Laboratory” in 1964, after James E. Boyd. Boyd graduated from The Ohio State University in 1891 and started teaching physics at the university shortly afterwards. He became an associate professor of mathematics by 1901, receiving his master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University sometime afterwards. Ohio State’s mechanical engineering department was established in 1906, and Boyd was made its first chairman. He retired in 1938, but continued to teach until 1948, when his health began to fail. Boyd died in 1950.
Johnston Lab History
The War Research Laboratory under construction c. 1942-1943. (Knowlton Archives)
Johnston Lab was designed in 1942 as the “War Research Laboratory” by university architect Howard Dwight Smith. Construction began that June, and the building was completed by the end of April 1943. It was designed in the Neoclassical style and had a concrete frame and brick exterior.
The complex after the construction of Johnston Lab.
Looking northeast at the War Research Laboratory from 19th Avenue. (Knowlton Archives)
Since the War Research Laboratory was built during World War II and because of its name, it’s not too much of a reach to assume that the building was used for some kind of engineering research for the armed forces. It seems like it was used as a cryogenics laboratory to produce substances like liquid hydrogen.
Johnston Lab shortly before its demolition. (Knowlton Archives)
The War Research Laboratory was renamed to “Johnston Laboratory” in 1970, after Herrick L. Johnston (1898-1965). I was fully prepared for this to be another dull biography about some dude who was the first department chair of some obscure engineering department or whatever, but he was actually involved with the Manhattan Project. Wikipedia’s article had the most information, so I used it as a source. Johnston was a scientist who specialized in cryogenics. He worked as a researcher at Cal from 1925 to 1928, and he became a professor at Ohio State in 1929. He planned to build a new cryogenics laboratory when he arrived, but the university didn’t have the funds until 1939. He worked as a professor until 1954, and he also served as a director of the Manhattan Project from 1942 to 1946.
Aviation Building History
164 W 19th Avenue, undated. (Knowlton Archives)
For whatever reason, my sources are riddled with blatantly incorrect information about this building. John Herrick claims that the Board of Trustees approved the plans for this building in 1896, almost sixty years before its construction, and the firm attributed as its designer (Peters, Burns, and Pretzinger) was dissolved by 1906. The Knowlton Archives’ pictures are mostly of Haskett Hall, Boyd Lab, and Johnston Lab. It was probably designed in 1950 or early 1951, as construction began in September 1951, and it was completed by March 1952.
The Aviation Building was designed as an addition to Johnston Lab, but it was used as the headquarters of the Graduate School during its lifetime. After that department moved to the new University Hall after its construction in 1976, the building was used by the Psychology Department. It was known by its address, 164 West 19th Avenue, for most of its life.
The full complex of buildings that the CBEC Building replaced.
The Aviation Building’s appearance near the end of its life. (Knowlton Archives)
In December 1988, the Board of Trustees approved a plan to build a two-story addition above the existing 164 W 19th Avenue, which would serve as the Department of Aviation’s academic facilities. Its construction began in 1991. The expression and windows seem a little anachronistic, so I’m not fully sure if that information is correct either.
Koffolt Laboratories/CBEC Building History
The original Koffolt Labs was attached to the old Fontana Labs, which have been combined into a new building plus an addition, which today is known holistically as Fontana Labs. The current Koffolt Labs is part of the CBEC Building.
Planning for a new CBEC Building began in 1995, when the original was becoming dated and overcrowded. The plans were approved in 2004, and after a large gift by a donor in 2009, the necessary funds were raised. The building was designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli (design) and Stantec (record), and it opened in winter 2015. The previous buildings on the site (Haskett Hall, Boyd Lab, Johnston Lab, and the Aviation Building) were demolished in 2012. The CBEC Building has 226,000 square feet of space and is LEED Silver.
The current CBEC Building’s footprint, with my best approximation of how it relates to the demolished buildings on the site.
Photos
The CBEC Building may very well be the most photogenic contemporary building on campus. It’s a hell of a lot better than its predecessors, and I think it incorporates the best parts of the current architectural trends while avoiding the worst of them. I started by looking southwest from the quad between Scott and Blackburn:
Pretty much anywhere else on campus this height would be too much, but standing next to the high-rise dorms, I think it works. What honestly shocked me is that it’s only five floors--the top must house some crazy equipment.
North facade:
This side is simpler in its expression. It has a common Miesian vertical emphasis in its vertical metal beams, only really divided by five horizontal ones. Beyond that, the remainder of the facade is entirely glass.
The western wing of the CBEC Building is a hybrid of the tower’s expression and the typical “rectangle with punched windows” typology of 99% of campus architecture:
The east side, with its identical glassiness and vertical emphasis:
The transitional moment between the tower and shorter, larger building:
Tower and connector:
A look at the study area:
North facade:
I like this stair tower’s placement and its transparency. I think stairs have a tendency to be in crappy, out-of-the-way places due to fire code or just not really being considered during the design process, but this is a nice example of the other end of the stick.
The west facade is rather uninteresting, as it faces the east end of the Physics Research Building. Again, it has the same expression as the tower:
I laughed at this sign on one of the lab windows:
Another Modernism trope--dematerialized corners.
Here’s the southwest side, where the loading docks are:
Note the brise-soleils over the windows here. These are a nice method to passively cool the building and save energy. I’d imagine they’re part of the LEED Silver award.
Looking northwest at the remainder of the building:
The tower’s expression includes brise-soleils here too, as it faces south:
Another nice stair tower:
I also like this undulating study area, which adds a nice touch of whimsy to an otherwise orthogonal design.
This tapering corner reminds me of an aircraft control tower:
I really love this shot…play of light and shadow on the metal fins and brise-soleils:
Here it is from straight on:
A nice angled view of the tower:
I’m getting some Le Corbusier vibes from the skinny piloti supporting half this tower. Dematerialized corners, brise-soleils, and now piloti. It’s just missing the roof garden from his Five Points.
The curving wing extends to under the tower, too, and forms its entrance:
A LOT of orthodox Modernist skyscrapers are lifted up off the ground like this and have a recessed entrance area. This is much different from preceding Art Deco/Gilded Age skyscrapers, which are typically entered directly from the sidewalk. Here, it has the effect of creating additional space for pedestrians walking from Scott. I myself have cut under this tower many times.
On the east facade of the tower, my eye immediately goes to the brise-soleils on the top floor terminating abruptly:
A closer look:
I also really like this photo--the tower rising from the foliage:
Last thing before going inside…some views of the signs:
I kept my camera out inside for these next two shots. The study area from the inside:
I try to avoid using my digital camera inside most campus buildings, mainly because they aren’t really interesting enough to justify more professional shots, and because most people would (understandably) be creeped out by someone walking around taking pictures of them. This is why I don’t have posts yet for Orton Hall and Thompson Library, which are two of Ohio State’s most recognizable and architecturally remarkable buildings--they are simply so busy that when I get around to taking pictures for them, I’ll have to plan to be there right when they open so I can use my camera.
I digress. Here are the funky RGB hexagon panels:
The first thing I noticed in the main body of the building was this lab that is open to below. It has some funky implements on display:
A statue of Joseph Koffolt:
This was apparently a gift from the Class of 1953, but the statue’s artist graduated from Ohio State with his master’s in 2001, so it seems to be more contemporary. You can read my article about Fontana Labs for more detail about Koffolt.
The hallways have high ceilings and seem pretty glassy in the lab area:
It’s weird not having musty, cramped hallways like almost every other science building on campus. Admittedly, the other parts are more spartan:
The corner of the study space:
I briefly stuck my head into the tower’s floor space, but it seems to be all faculty offices:
I know the exterior photos outweigh the interior ones here, but I struggle with science-y buildings like this one that are mostly long hallways that are bordered by a bunch of labs.
Sources:
https://kb.osu.edu/handle/1811/24059
https://library.osu.edu/site/buckeyestroll/
https://knowltondl.osu.edu/Browse/objects/facet/collection_facet/id/18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herrick_L._Johnston
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