The remainder of the upper floor is devoted to a small tiered theater/lecture room and across a small “bridge”, the remote Ecumenical suite, including its contemplative meeting space. Circulation along the edge of the upper level, overlooking the main dining area, leads to a common lounge with entrances to the two office suites dedicated to Campus Media and Student Activities. Adjacent to the main lobby, the Coffeehouse/Bar provides a more intimate, later evening venue for smaller groups and live acoustic music. The configuration of the floor openings mimic the rotated geometries of the exterior envelope, and provide variously scaled lounge spaces. The second floor has been “carved” away in numerous locations allowing for multiple vantage points and overlooks. Two open stairs, one adjacent to the lobby, the other near a supplementary north entrance, offer an expedient connection to the upper level and encourage use in lieu of the elevator. The main two-sided entrance lobby provides a two-storied space with views to primary activity zones with a separate circulation path to multipurpose rooms for ease of access for public functions.

These spaces include dining, servery and support, multi-purpose spaces, storage, and mechanical space. The first floor is designed to accommodate areas that have the highest potential student interaction and benefit from at grade access or proximity to loading and service. The level of “transparency” or glazing on the campus core elevations increases dramatically and allows for a more visual connection to the events taking place on the green space as well as extensive views to the building’s interior. The concept of expressed planes continues in the form of a contemporary entry frontispiece, sun shading screens, and the color change of the metal panels in response to building massing and program. In contrast, the campus core sides of the building are treated with aluminum composite panels suggesting an aesthetic associated with technology.

The planes of brick rotate from the northeast to the southwest, corresponding to the existing buildings, and the Master Plan’s organizing “Spine”. From the campus entry side, the building utilizes traditional brick masonry to reflect the materials of the existing campus, but is treated as simple planes that undergo an angular transformation. Save this picture! © Dave Revette PhotographyĬonceptually, the building has two differing “faces” – the campus entry and the campus core.

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