The new, $44.5 million Centennial Hall has opened on the campus of the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Eau Claire. National architecture and engineering firm SmithGroupJJR partnered with La Crosse, Wisconsin-based River Architects to design the 182,000-square-foot building.
Centennial Hall houses the College of Education and Human Sciences and consolidates teacher education that was previously split among three buildings dating back to the 1950s. It is the first new academic building on the UW-Eau Claire campus in more than 30 years.
“SmithGroupJJR and River Architects worked extraordinarily well together to create a beautiful and functional structure,” said Dr. Gail Scukanec, dean of the UW-Eau Claire College of Education and Human Sciences, “the new Centennial Hall allows for greater operational efficiencies and greater collaboration."
The four-story building, located between Schneider Hall and Zorn Arena in the central campus mall area, also houses the Departments of Education Studies, Special Education, English, Languages and select student support services. Major spaces are dedicated to distance education, active learning classrooms, teacher education methods labs, general labs and open study areas, along with a total of 165 offices.
Noteworthy are Centennial Hall’s 19 general assignment classrooms – ranging from one 160-seat to five 45-seat rooms – that offer significant new classroom space for use by the entire campus.
Students have a variety of choices for their collaborations. Options include informal “living room” spaces scattered throughout the building, ranging from quiet, four-student nooks to a bustling, multi-story cyber café with views of the Chippewa River, which runs through the campus and inspired the building’s playful, undulating south façade.
Design features nighttime presence, glass artistry honors the Hmong people
With its brick and stone exterior, Centennial Hall was designed to complement the campus’ oldest building: the circa-1916 Schofield Hall, which it faces from across the quad. The new building also blends harmoniously with the new Davies Student Center and venerable Schneider Hall.
Among Centennial Hall’s most dramatic design features are the building’s multi-story, glass corners that offer light-filled, social interaction spaces during the day.
“As night falls, the glass corners act as beacons of light, earning them the nickname of ‘lanterns’,” said Coty Sandberg, LEED AP BD+C, SmithGroupJJR project designer.
The design team maximized the amount of natural light drawn deep into the building to provide a bright indoor environment to its users. In addition to the building’s “lanterns”, designers strategically located windows to allow all public corridors outside views at the end. A rhythm of tall windows and glassy, multi-height spaces are prominent throughout the building.
According to Scukanec, one of Centennial Hall's more beautiful features is the pattern etched into the large glass windows on the building's southwest corner. The design team created the custom frit pattern to honor the Hmong people, an Asian ethnic group whose roots originate in the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. The Hmong have an important presence in the Eau Claire area.
"This architectural integrated artwork is a leaf pattern, a symbol for life in some cultures, including the Hmong culture," Scukanec said.
Centennial Hall is targeting LEED-NC Silver equivalency. Sustainable design features include optimal building orientation, low-E glazing, energy recovery and occupancy sensors. The building is designed to operate 30 percent more efficiently than current energy codes.
Leading the design of Centennial Hall was the Chicago office of SmithGroupJJR, which provided conceptual design, schematic design, sustainability consulting, design development and construction documents. The general contractor was Miron Construction, Neenah, Wisconsin.
Related Stories
Giants 400 | Nov 29, 2020
Top 155 Architecture Firms for 2020
Gensler, Perkins and Will, and HKS Architects top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2020 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Nov 29, 2020
Top 100 Architecture Engineering Firms for 2020
Stantec, HDR, and HOK head the rankings of the nation's largest architecture engineering (AE) firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2020 Giants 400 Report.
Government Buildings | Nov 25, 2020
New Indiana Toll Road headquarters creates unified environment for staff
New LEED Gold facility consolidates operations for tollway authority.
Architects | Nov 24, 2020
AEC Leaders share lessons from past downturns
Positions of passivity and cost-cutting run counter to the key lessons from AEC leaders who successfully navigated their firms through past market downturns.
Smart Buildings | Nov 20, 2020
The Weekly show: SPIRE smart building rating system, and pickleball court design tips
The November 19 episode of BD+C's The Weekly is available for viewing on demand.
Transportation & Parking Facilities | Nov 13, 2020
BIG and Kilo-designed Pegasus Pod transports first Hyperloop passengers
The pod achieves Hyperloop travel at speeds over 1000km/hour.
Government Buildings | Nov 13, 2020
Tax shortfalls nip government projects in the bud
Federal contracts are proceeding, but states and cities are delaying, deferring, and looking for private investment.
AEC Tech | Nov 12, 2020
The Weekly show: Nvidia's Omniverse, AI for construction scheduling, COVID-19 signage
BD+C editors speak with experts from ALICE Technologies, Build Group, Hastings Architecture, Nvidia, and Woods Bagot on the November 12 episode of "The Weekly." The episode is available for viewing on demand.
Museums | Nov 5, 2020
The Weekly show: Designing cannabis facilities, Bob Borson's Life of an Architect, museum design
BD+C editors speak with experts from Cooper Robertson, Life of an Architect, and MJ12 Design Studio on the November 5 episode of "The Weekly." The episode is available for viewing on demand.
Multifamily Housing | Oct 30, 2020
The Weekly show: Multifamily security tips, the state of construction industry research, and AGC's market update
BD+C editors speak with experts from AGC, Charles Pankow Foundation, and Silva Consultants on the October 29 episode of "The Weekly." The episode is available for viewing on demand.