The STEM Complex at Michigan State University was intentionally sited on an important existing north-south pedestrian route running from South Campus residence halls to North Campus academic buildings. That route is retained but is now internalized on the ground floor of the STEM Complex, passing through two new atria and a repurposed power plant that now serves as a multi-disciplinary Student Commons. The main entry of the Complex shows off its mass timber structure as well as glass-walled laboratories revealing science in action. Whether a STEM or Humanities student, hundreds pass through the Complex every day to partake in coursework and participate in a vibrant academic community.
Contributing to the sense of community on campus
University of Kentucky, College of Pharmacy Building (Lee T. Todd, Jr. Building)
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- Building community
We believe that every building should contribute to the sense of community on a campus in a variety of ways, through thoughtful siting of a new building that reinforces or introduces important pedestrian and visual connections; a renovation that provides a new, welcoming entry; a central, internal gathering space or commons that attracts building occupants as well as others; or a visual connection into a space that informs or prompts curiosity on the parts of passers-by.
Renovation projects provide opportunities for creative design solutions contributing to the sense of community on campus. Our Life Sciences Complex at Syracuse University unites seamlessly with the existing Center for Science and Technology via the new atrium, which incorporates the former exterior wall of the Center. The atrium features a visible, welcoming entry to the Complex and serves as a significant gathering, interaction, and even study space that attracts students from all parts of the campus.
Syracuse University's Center for Science and Technology
Syracuse University, Life Sciences Complex integrated with Center for Science and Technology
Syracuse University, Life Sciences Complex, entrance atrium integrates former exterior wall for Center of Science and Technology
The University of Maine’s Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center is organized around a central, multi-story public space, or “Main Street,” which provides interaction areas on every level—as well as direct pedestrian connection from Long Road (the “loop road” on which the building is located) to Cloke Plaza, the heart of the Engineering campus. Students and visitors passing through the building on this prominent campus thoroughfare can enjoy views into the labs, classrooms, social and gathering places, and other program spaces of the building.
University of Maine, Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center
Student Commons spaces, particularly those that offer food service, are magnets for social interaction and important facilitators of campus community building. An excellent example is the Commons in Rowan University’s Engineering Hall, which attracts students not only from the College of Engineering buildings, but the larger campus community as well.
