Chestnut Hill College recently dedicated its new fitness and social complex to donors Jack and Rosemary Murphy Gulati ’61. The $3.4 million Gulati Complex includes a 5,000-sf fitness center, adjacent McCaffery Lounge café and social gathering space, plus an outdoor entrance pavilion and plaza.
Casaccio Yu Architects of Havertown, Pa., designed the multi-phased project. The fitness center opened for student use during the fall semester; McCaffery Lounge welcomed its first guests during the winter. Both incorporate visual cues to the heritage, core values, and history of the Sisters of Saint Joseph and Chestnut Hill College.
McCaffery Lounge curves around a new stone fireplace, with bold color and graphics used to literally express the school’s core beliefs around a ceiling frieze. “Circle The City With Love” in multiple languages rings the room, celebrating the ministry of the Sisters of Saint Joseph. Three seating areas create flexibility for large groups or intimate gatherings.
A new entry pavilion and exterior plaza link the Gulati Complex with nearby buildings, extending the piazza of the Logue Library and serving as a welcoming center of campus for prospective students. +
Related Stories
Architects | Mar 27, 2015
Illustrator Federico Babina explores architecture as animals
When you pay attention, the Eiffel Tower really does look like a giraffe.
Transit Facilities | Mar 25, 2015
Kengo Kuma selected to design new Paris Metro station
The new station will serve as a hub to connect Paris' northern suburbs with the core.
Green | Mar 25, 2015
WELL Building Standard introduced in China
The WELL Building Standard is a performance-based system for measuring, certifying and monitoring features that impact human health and wellbeing, through air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort, and mind.
High-rise Construction | Mar 24, 2015
Timber high-rise residential complex will tower over Stockholm waterfront
The four towers, 20 stories each, will be made entirely out of Swedish pine, from frame to façade.
Higher Education | Mar 23, 2015
Hong Kong university building will feature bioclimatic façade
The project's twin-tower design opens the campus up to the neighboring public green space, while maximizing the use of summer winds for natural ventilation.
Religious Facilities | Mar 23, 2015
Is nothing sacred? Seattle church to become a restaurant and ballroom
A Seattle-based real estate developer plans to convert a historic downtown building, which for more than a century has served as a church sanctuary, into a restaurant with ballroom space.
Government Buildings | Mar 23, 2015
SOM leads planning for Egypt’s new $45 billion capital city
To alleviate overcrowding and congestion in Cairo, the Egyptian government is building a new capital from scratch.
BIM and Information Technology | Mar 23, 2015
Skanska hosts three-week 'hackathon' to find architect for Seattle tower development
Searching for a nimble, collaborative design firm for its 2&U tower project in Seattle, the construction giant ditches the traditional RFQ/RFP process for a hackathon-inspired competition.
Healthcare Facilities | Mar 23, 2015
Can advanced elevator technology take vertical hospitals to the next level?
VOA's Douglas King recalls the Odyssey project and ponders vertical transportation in high-rise healthcare design.
Healthcare Facilities | Mar 22, 2015
New Joplin, Mo., hospital built to tornado-resistant standards
The new hospital features a window and frame system that can protect patients from winds of up to 250 mph.