The Life Sciences Building has a name: The Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center (press release; article in The Dartmouth). The only other Dartmouth building named for a class that comes to mind was named only last year, the Class of 1953 Dining Commons.

The class plans to raise $40 million of the roughly $95-million construction cost. The architecture firm, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, recently hired a few new designers in its Pittsburgh office to handle this project in particular.

The press release announcing the gift includes the first perspective renderings available, and they emphasize what appears to be an elliptical-plan glass stair tower. The long cross-bar will be the teaching portion of the building, and the shorter north-south wing will house the research spaces and administration.

[Updated 10.20.2007: “Building” changed to “Center” in first stentence.]