KSS Architects won a Merit Award for Warch Campus Center, Lawrence University, in the New Jersey chapter of the American Institute of Architects’ annual Design Awards Program. The project was one of three to win the award in the category of Architectural/Non-Residential. AIA NJ received about 60 submissions for its annual design competition.
The $34 million, four-story, 107,000-sf campus center embodies the values of the university.
It links academic and residential hubs on campus and provides a giant living room for students, faculty and staff. Visitors can move horizontally and vertically through the building to find a variety of places to eat, study and relax with friends. The building features the university’s main dining facilities, a cafe, campus and convenience stores, event rooms, student organization offices and a number of activity spaces including a theater and performance stage.
Warch Campus Center has received numerous design and sustainability awards and recognition, including LEED Gold certification from the USGBC, the first higher education building in Wisconsin to do so. The recognition is the second highest level in the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system for high-performance, sustainable buildings.
Uihlein-Wilson Architects, based in Milwaukee, was the project’s Architect-of-Record. BD+C
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