The 65,000 square foot student center is anticipated to be a hub of student activity and to provide resources for the local community. The Student Center will contain a mix of uses, including a welcome center, a ballroom, space for student government and activity offices, assembly space for university programs, and spaces for student leisure and socializing. It will also contain restaurants intended to cater to the planned mix of residential and commuter, undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty, staff, and visitors.
The UDC student center will act as a gateway to the Campus. Along Connecticut Avenue, the new building will be marked by a new public square and a clock tower. The glass and metal panels of the Connecticut Avenue façade will offer natural lighting to counter the concrete of the other buildings, and show transparency to invite people inside. The building will be clad in terra cotta metal panels and glass. Clear glass and spandrel glass panels will complement the metal. The building and streetscape design will animate the public realm at ground level through activity related to the Student Center, and it will create a strong visual, functional, and symbolic connection between the campus core and Connecticut Avenue.
Sustainable Aspects Include:
· Green Roofs
· Photovoltaic’s to convert light into electricity and enhance efficiency
· 3-story Atrium to allow natural light to the center of the building
· Rain gardens
· Bioswales
· Geothermal well field to reduce energy use for heating and cooling.
· Sun screens
· Bio-retention facilities both within the public right-of-way and on private property that will retain, and monitor the quality of water entering the city’s storm water drain
· Pervious pavers
· Adaptive Re-use: Retrofitting of some of the existing building to new use
· Low E insulated glazing