Higher Education

University of Illinois School of Architecture

Champaign, Illinois | Unbuilt 2016
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The Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois School of Archi­tec­ture (the Unit­ed State’s first pub­lic school of archi­tec­ture) need­ed a strate­gic plan to con­sol­i­date and opti­mize its learn­ing spaces which cur­rent­ly reside across three build­ings. Tak­ing inspi­ra­tion from the School’s approach of ​“learn­ing from the past – ques­tion­ing the present – shap­ing the future” the design team was chal­lenged to holis­ti­cal­ly rethink the School’s future. 

What emerged were two dis­tinct design direc­tions to the same chal­lenge. Known affec­tion­ate­ly as the ​“bridge” and ​“lens”, both schemes work to ele­vate the impor­tance of the archi­tec­ture pro­gram at a cam­pus scale. The next phase of work includes fundrais­ing and align­ment with the cap­i­tal improve­ment plan. 

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1938 (courtesy of the University of Illinois Archives)

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2016

Of the three build­ings that com­prise the School of Architecture’s Cam­pus, the his­toric 1926 struc­ture designed by Charles A. Platt need­ed the most atten­tion, care, and revisioning. 

Con­fig­ured as a sim­ple ​“dumb­bell” plan with large spaces on each end for stu­dios and gal­leries, the build­ing had changed over time. Sub­di­vi­sions slow­ly removed the open and airy char­ac­ter of the inte­ri­or. Reclaim­ing these spaces became a pri­or­i­ty for the design team. 

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1930's (courtesy of the University of Illinois Archives)

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2016

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Through a robust engage­ment process that includ­ed stu­dents, staff, and fac­ul­ty the design team ana­lyzed course sched­ules, deployed sur­veys, host­ed small group inter­views, and observed the School in action. This informed five strate­gic priorities: 

  • Put archi­tec­ture on display
  • Pro­vide spaces that sup­port evolv­ing pedagogy 
  • Attract new students
  • Improve build­ing infra­struc­ture and technology
  • Dis­play cut­ting edge sus­tain­able strategies
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The mas­ter plan includ­ed con­sol­i­da­tion of the Archi­tec­ture School from three build­ings to two: The Archi­tec­ture Build­ing (1926) and Tem­ple Hoyne Buell Hall (1995). Both design options explored what an addi­tion could look like in a tra­di­tion­al and non-tra­di­tion­al sense. 

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“The Lens” explored what a tra­di­tion­al addi­tion might look like. After review­ing the his­toric ele­ments of the Archi­tec­ture Build­ing, the team deter­mined that the north façade was of sec­ondary impor­tance. This pro­vid­ed the oppor­tu­ni­ty to acti­vate the under­uti­lized ​“Com­merce Quad” and cre­ate an acces­si­ble entry sequence into the exist­ing building. 

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Existing South Elevation

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Proposed Extension

Work­ing sym­met­ri­cal­ly with the appendage that hous­es the Rick­er Library and between the exist­ing stair tow­ers, the addi­tion grows nat­u­ral­ly form the his­toric build­ing. A mir­rored façade of glass reflects its sur­round­ings while a clear glass ocu­lus frames the his­toric build­ing. New meets old with a ter­ra­cot­ta fin sys­tem that allows the build­ing to be nat­u­ral­ly ven­ti­lat­ed through­out the year. 

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The ​“Bridge” explored what a non-tra­di­tion­al addi­tion might look like. Designed to phys­i­cal­ly bridge between the 1926 Archi­tec­ture Build­ing and 1994 Tem­ple Hoyne Buell Hall, this scheme aimed to link and inter­twine shared resources that the Archi­tec­ture School thrives on. The his­toric build­ing would become devot­ed to the Under­grad­u­ate pro­gram while the Grad­u­ate pro­gram would con­tin­ue its oper­a­tions in the Tem­ple Hoyne Buell Hall. 

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At the heart of the addi­tion is the Library, a cen­ter of knowl­edge. Wrap­ping the nexus of the build­ing is a stair­case and social space that spans three floors and weaves itself between offices, class­rooms, mak­er spaces, and the relo­cat­ed Rick­er Library (one of the country’s largest art and archi­tec­tur­al collections).

Both schemes were designed with sus­tain­abil­i­ty in mind. From mate­ri­al­i­ty to mechan­i­cal sys­tems the ​“bridge” and ​“lens” meet a min­i­mum stan­dard of LEED Gold certification. 

Max­i­mized nat­ur­al light, water reten­tion, ther­mal mass, heat dis­per­sion, max­i­mized views, oper­a­ble facades for nat­ur­al ven­ti­la­tion, per­me­able pave­ment for stormwa­ter man­age­ment, cen­tral­ized heat­ing and cool­ing sources, chilled beams, and a radi­ant floor sys­tems were strate­gies con­sid­ered dur­ing con­cept design. 

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Riverpark 9
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