Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., is set to begin a project to renovate and expand the Davis Center, a facility that acts as the physical, intellectual, and programmatic heart of the school’s efforts to build an inclusive community on Williams’ campus.
Leers Weinzapfel Associates, in collaboration with J. Garland Enterprises, will expand the 18,650-sf Davis Center to 26,350 sf with a new addition. The project will also include comprehensive renovations of the adjacent Rice and Jenness Houses. The resulting facility will feature universal access and increased space to accommodate Minority Coalition student gatherings, meetings, dialogue, classes, socializing, studying, and programming.
The new and renovated center will include modernized space built for current and future needs. The building will be a hub for the education, activism, community building, academic exploration, well-being, and celebration that happens within.
The project will reflect the domestic scale of the neighboring Rice and Jenness Houses with an open, glazed ground floor that acts as an invitation to broad campus engagement. A roofscape references the peaks and valleys of the mountain ranges that surround the college.
Additionally, the Center will house a new large gathering and event space to host the wide range of Davis Center programs, student group meeting spaces at a variety of sizes, staff office space to accommodate program growth, and improved kitchens for cultural and student group use.
The Davis Center is slated for completion in fall 2023.
Related Stories
Education Facilities | Nov 30, 2022
10 ways to achieve therapeutic learning environments
Today’s school should be much more than a place to learn—it should be a nurturing setting that celebrates achievements and responds to the challenges of many different users.
University Buildings | Nov 13, 2022
University of Washington opens mass timber business school building
Founders Hall at the University of Washington Foster School of Business, the first mass timber building at Seattle campus of Univ. of Washington, was recently completed. The 84,800-sf building creates a new hub for community, entrepreneurship, and innovation, according the project’s design architect LMN Architects.
University Buildings | Nov 3, 2022
New College of Medicine debuts on University of Houston’s campus
It's part of a planned medical district.
University Buildings | Nov 2, 2022
New Univ. of Calif. Riverside business school building will support hybrid learning
A design-build partnership of Moore Ruble Yudell and McCarthy Building Companies will collaborate on a new business school building at the University of California at Riverside.
School Construction | Oct 31, 2022
Claremont McKenna College science center will foster integrated disciplinary research
The design of the Robert Day Sciences Center at Claremont McKenna College will support “a powerful, multi-disciplinary, computational approach to the grand socio-scientific challenges and opportunities of our time—gene, brain, and climate,” says Hiram E. Chodosh, college president.
University Buildings | Oct 27, 2022
The Collaboratory Building will expand the University of Florida’s School of Design, Construction, and Planning
Design firm Brooks + Scarpa recently broke ground on a new addition to the University of Florida’s School of Design, Construction, and Planning (DCP).
Higher Education | Oct 24, 2022
Wellesley College science complex modernizes facility while preserving architectural heritage
A recently completed expansion and renovation of Wellesley College’s science complex yielded a modernized structure for 21st century STEM education while preserving important historical features.
BAS and Security | Oct 19, 2022
The biggest cybersecurity threats in commercial real estate, and how to mitigate them
Coleman Wolf, Senior Security Systems Consultant with global engineering firm ESD, outlines the top-three cybersecurity threats to commercial and institutional building owners and property managers, and offers advice on how to deter and defend against hackers.
University Buildings | Oct 18, 2022
A carbon-neutral-ready university campus opens in Hong Kong
In early September, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) officially opened its new, KPF-designed campus in Nansha, Guangzhou (GZ).
University Buildings | Oct 7, 2022
Auburn’s new culinary center provides real-world education
The six-story building integrates academic and revenue-generating elements.
