Sense of Place

• Young Harris College (Ga.) broke ground on a $41 million, 125-square-foot campus center in April. To be the largest structure on campus and completed in fall 2014, the project is the centerpiece of YHC’s master plan. It will house a multipurpose student center, a library, an expanded dining hall, and a banquet facility. Student-facing offices such as admissions and advising will be housed there. VMDO Architects (Charlottesville, Va.) is handling design. The general contractor is Choate Construction Company (Atlanta).

A 46,000-square-foot abandoned furniture warehouse has been given new life as the continuing education and industrial center at Randolph Community College in Asheboro, N.C.

Challenge

As with many community colleges, Randolph was in need of expansion due to large enrollment growth. Overflowing parking lots as well as classrooms in the machining program at the school led to an overhaul of the old Klaussner Furniture warehouse, located adjacent to the campus’ Health & Science Center and to Randolph Early College High School.

• A 20,000-square-foot newsroom with a 360-degree assignment desk as well as television, radio, and vodcast studios will be at the heart of Wallis Annenberg Hall, a five-story, 88,000-square-foot facility for the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. A four-story atrium will feature a multistory digital media tower showcasing student programming, social media, and live broadcast news. The $50 million building was designed by Harley Ellis Devereaux (Los Angeles) and is scheduled for a fall 2014 opening.

The new Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Ecosystems Research at Nova Southeastern University (Fla.) is believed by officials to be the largest research facility dedicated to this research area in the nation. So it’s fitting that officials did it up big with the grand opening, featuring President George Hanbury and members of the media taking a ceremonial dive.  The facility is part of NSU’s Oceanographic Center at John U. Lloyd Beach State Park.

At San Diego State University, construction is under way on a 100,000-square-foot renovation and 30,000-square-foot expansion of the Storm and Nasatir building complex, built in 1957. The project will allow the buildings to meet current health and safety code standards as well as correct deferred maintenance issues and improve water and energy conservation. It is designed to achieve LEED Gold certification.

DeafSpace architectural design elements aid visual communication and help reduce eye strain and fatigue for deaf and hard of hearing people. A new Living and Learning Residence Hall, dubbed LLRH6, is the second construction project  incorporating DeafSpace at Gallaudet University (D.C.).

A community of 160 two- to five-bedroom cottages is under construction near The University of Mississippi campus. Partners in the $37.6-million, 4,700-bed project are EdR (majority owner and manager upon the fall 2013 completion) and Landmark Properties (handling development and construction). The community will have outdoor living areas, a pool, a sand volleyball court, horseshoe pits, and a clubhouse with a fitness center, tanning beds, an internet café, study rooms, a computer lounge, a game room, a golf simulator, and a community kitchen.

Two under-utilized spaces were transformed into highly trafficked, vibrant areas on Chestnut Hill College’s campus in Philadelphia.

A three-story, 103,000-square-foot laboratory and research building project got under way this spring at the University of California, Merced. Called the Science and Engineering Building 2 and designed by Smith Group JJR, it will complete the academic core around the campus quad. General contractor McCarthy Building Companies is managing the $88 million project, as well as the $10 million Recreation Center North project, a 19,000-square-foot facility designed by WRNS Studio, which recently had its final structural beam put in place.

With more BSN graduates than any other private college in Wisconsin, Viterbo University’s nursing school enjoyed an excellent reputation—but it operated out of a small, outdated facility. The new School of Nursing, which opened this past fall, is twice the size and technology-rich. The goal, explains President Richard Artman, is 25 percent growth over the next five years and accreditation for a doctor of nursing practice program, currently in development.