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An old warehouse building becomes the new Campus Center at Springfield Technical Community College

University Buildings

An old warehouse building becomes the new Campus Center at Springfield Technical Community College

Ann Beha Architects designed the building.


By David Malone, Assocaite Editor | April 22, 2019

All Photos: Chuck Choi

Combining historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and contemporary architecture, Springfield Technical Community College’s new Campus Center repurposes a 764-foot-long by 55-foot-wide warehouse building originally constructed between 1846 and 1864.

A major aspect of the Springfield, Mass., University’s Campus Center is The Ira H. Rubenzahl Student Learning Commons. The Campus Center and Student Learning Commons consolidate academic services and student life activities under one roof. Cor-ten steel canopies along the building’s facade distinguish new entrances into each hub.

 

See Also: UMass Amherst’s new copper-clad Business Innovation Hub adds 70,000 sf to the university’s business school

 

In the Learning Commons, the library is combined with instructional spaces, tutoring and information technology services, a cafe, a bookstore, and meeting areas for students to study and socialize. The attic was renovated to accommodate group study and conference rooms and is day-lit from below as well as from above by a series of new skylights. A Student Activities and Student Government meeting room incorporates historic architecture and the double height Library Reading Room offers panoramic views of the campus.

 

The dinning commons

 

The Student Enrollment Center, at the opposite end of the 764-foot-long building from the Learning Commons, offers new students connections to Admissions, the Registrar, Academic Advising, and Financial Aid.

On the team: Ann Beha Architects (architect), Consigli Construction (construction manager), Nitsch Engineering (civil engineer), Altieri Sebor Wieber (MEP/FP engineer), RSE Associates (structural engineer), and CRJA | IBI Group (landscape architect).

 

Student Activities and Student Government Meeting room

 

 

Double height Library Reading Room

 

Repurposed attic space

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