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
| Feb 13, 2013
'Vegetative tower' apartments to revive NYC site
A Manhattan site formerly slated for development with a "tower of cubes"—a now-defunct project by Santiago Calatrava—will be revived with a 998-foot, 300,000-sf apartment building by Morali Architects.
| Feb 13, 2013
Fast Company selects 'most innovative' architecture firms
Business innovation magazine Fast Company has released a list of 10 "most innovative" architectural practices, worldwide.
| Feb 12, 2013
OMA's 'perimeter core' design wins competition for Essence Financial Building in Shenzhen
OMA partners David Gianotten and Rem Koolhaas rethink traditional office tower design with a plan that shifts the building's core to the edge for large, unobstructed plans.
| Feb 11, 2013
AIA elevates 122 members and seven international architects to the College of Fellows
The 2013 Jury of Fellows from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) elevated 122 AIA members to its prestigious College of Fellows, an honor awarded to members who have made significant contributions to the profession. The 2013 Fellows will be honored at an investiture ceremony at the 2013 National AIA Convention and Design Exposition in Denver.
| Feb 8, 2013
5 factors to consider when designing a shade system
Designing a shade system is more complex than picking out basic white venetian blinds. Here are five elements to consider when designing an interior shade system.
| Feb 8, 2013
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s new wing voted Boston’s 'most beautiful new building'
Bostonians voted the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum's new wing the People's Choice Award winner for 2012, honoring the project as the city's "most beautiful new building" for the calendar year. The new wing, designed by Renzo Piano and Stantec, beat out three other projects on the short list.
| Feb 6, 2013
Arcadia (Calif.) High School opens $20 million performing arts center
A 60-year old wish for the community of Arcadia has finally come true with the opening of Arcadia Unified School District’s new $20 million Performing Arts Center.
| Feb 6, 2013
CSI: Revitalizing the brand to achieve the mission
CSI is revitalizing its brand as part of its continued pursuit of its mission: improving facility performance through better communication in the commercial-level construction industry.