| The addition provides various opportunities for students and faculty to informally connect day to day, while accommodating larger seminars and campus events. The newly enclosed atrium space, which infills an existing courtyard, connects the Student Activities Center, Campus Marketing Department, and Student Affairs offices while more than doubling the amount of lounge and seating area for the remodeled food service program.
Sharing three of its four walls with the existing 50-year-old buildings, the challenge was to combine the new design with the old. The design team took inspiration from the existing architecture’s clean lines and uncomplicated expressions to create a space that complements its immediate context in proportion, scale, and rhythm. The language of the addition and remodel are familiar and fitting to their setting while forming a unique identity and architectural statement of its own.
Another challenge the team encountered was crafting the connection between the existing dining hall to the new atrium. The relatively low available ceiling space of the dining hall in comparison to the atrium, along with an even lower structural beam separating the two, made it difficult to form a unified space. The solution was a series of undulating ceiling clouds that maximize the available height of the two spaces.
The amenities and furniture selection in the pavilion provide a variety of settings and gathering options not found elsewhere on campus. Around the atrium’s fireplace, sofas and lounge chairs accommodate a relaxed group or individual setting, while an area of tables and chairs create a formal study space and dining area adjacent to the center’s full service speed line. Several dedicated computer kiosks provide students and faculty with Internet access. A stage with lighting and AV equipment is available for special events from lectures to concerts.
A palette of warm materials and calming colors create a space conducive to study, socialize, and relax. Wood ceiling clouds link the dining and atrium spaces and soften the exposed metal deck, conceal mechanical systems, and scale the two large spaces, providing an abundance of visual warmth to the space while reducing noise levels generated during peak hours. A variety of flooring materials such as stained concrete, bamboo, carpeting, and resilient flooring define circulation, seating, and food service areas while maximizing durability and maintaining flexibility of the space.
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