This new four-story academic center — consolidating campus administration and enrollment services into a single, modern facility — is intentionally sited to reinforce a student/pedestrian corridor connecting student housing with core academic facilities. The building supplants a previous surface parking lot, restoring the rigorous urban fabric that is a legacy of this metropolitan campus. Its central location, connected to the student center and adjacent to the library, enables the building to leverage its location to maximize visibility and convenience for both students and visitors.
Charged with creating an environment of openness, convenience, and accessibility for students and visitors, the building form and materials are manipulated on the south facade to respond to the prominence of the adjacent student pedestrian axis. Interior public circulation is consolidated within a four-story atrium to the south, which parallels interior movement and activity with that along the exterior pedestrian corridor. Cladding this form in a glass curtain wall system of varying opacity emphasizes openness and transparency, and creates a visual connection between students inside and out.
The Student Services Center was awarded LEED® “Gold” Certification for the sustainable features that were rigorously integrated into the building.