Gwinnett University Center

Narratives

Architect Narrative

Idea: Emphasize students first.

Realization: Designed for way students learn today: (1) Round form fosters community & sharing; facilitates collaborative, interactive learning. (2) Variety of space sizes encourage group study.

Idea: Create fully-wired, technologically-advanced facility to lead high-tech learning initiatives for entire state. Serve as catalyst for innovation & training center for teaching, allow for worldwide communication.

Realization: Application of new teaching technologies: (1) Classrooms combine high-tech teaching (via data projectors, electronic whiteboarding, digital storage of class content) alongside traditional teaching tools. (2) Distance learning classrooms equipped with wall-sized rear projection screens allow exchange & display of information from students’ & professors’ laptops. (3) More than 2000 data drops & over 67 miles of voice, data & audio-visual cabling allows high speed videoconferencing.

Idea: Meet immediate needs of over 7,000 virtual & commuter students, offer access to higher education for non-traditional students.

Realization: Designed with intent that 25% of student body will study online: (1) Technology in facility demonstrates commitment to social progress, allowing students to customize their education with new modes of learning. (2) Distance learning capabilities, supported by interactive infrastructure, offer people who cannot attend regularly scheduled on-campus classes instruction, continuing education & professional development on their own schedules in their homes or work places.

Idea: Promote efficiency, fiscal responsibility & an environmental conscience.

Realization: Environmentally sensitive design & conservation: (1) Satellite controlled irrigation system monitored & operated remotely, instant deactivation during wet weather conserves water. (2) Photocells in interior automatically shut off lights when light level adequately maintained through natural lighting. (3) Energy recovery systems maximize efficiency, making building economical to operate & maintain. (4) Partially south-facing curtain wall glass gives high transmission of visible light but low transmittance of solar energy into building. (5) In high sunlight areas, frit applied to glass to further reduce amount of solar energy transmission. (6) Internal pedestrian bridges act as shading devises to block penetration of sunlight into building, saving on cooling costs. (7) Heating, ventilating & air conditioning systems designed with air quality & energy efficiency in mind: (a) Verifiable outside air quantities ventilate all spaces separately from building cooling systems. (b) Outside air pre-conditioned by recovery units capturing energy from exhaust air prior to it leaving building. (c) During cool weather, 100% outside air used, eliminating need for mechanical cooling. (d) Direct digital control network allows close monitoring & management of energy use. (8) Glass curtain wall designed to easily accommodate solar panels.

Idea: Create 1st building of new campus, address urgent needs of rapidly-growing target population.

Realization: Project approached as more than design of one building: (1) Envisioned campus experience from visiting professor’s to everyday student’s viewpoints. (2) Separated sitework from building package to ensure needed utilities were in place, tested, & approved before construction began. (3) Diligence allowed planning, design, construction of project to be greatly accelerated without quality loss. Approximate design time – 10 months. Construction completed – 2 semesters sooner than planned. (4) Currently a satellite facility for consortium of institutions, master planned campus will be built out to serve over 20,000 students.

Educator Narrative

The education functional team working with the architects during the design process had two major goals: (1) To design a student-learning-centered building that reflected the mission of the newly created institution. In effect, this meant an open plan that distributed opportunities for student learning throughout the facility, rather than concentrating them in the classrooms alone. The building has wireless technology, student study rooms located outside the library, a food service area adjacent to an open study space, convenient access to faculty and staff offices, numerous computer terminals, good interior and exterior light for reading, and, of course, excellent classrooms. And (2) to create a focal point for a brand-new campus, establishing an orientation for the campus master plan and a visible symbol of contemporary higher education for the community. The futuristic round building is set on the highest point of the campus. It is visible from the main highway through the county (and to airline pilots flying overhead owing to its unique light signature) and anchors one end of a traditional campus quad. It is indeed an internal and external reference point.

The building has now been in operation for three full academic years.

Students have indeed used the entire facility for learning. They eat, study, and connect to the internet together in various open spaces and study rooms. The new space has allowed enrollment to double (over enrollment at the previous leased space.) If we had it to do over, we might have made two changes. First, the open plan does create noise issues. While they are not serious, we would probably have tried to find ways to ameliorate some of the acoustic effects of the plan. Second, as enrollment has increased so has the need for offices, which has made the student study rooms that are located outside the library vulnerable to poaching for use as faculty/staff offices. We probably should have tried to design them in some way that made it harder to convert them for non-student use. In the end, though, both of these are minor concerns.

The building has fulfilled its role as the public symbol for our campus, showing up obliquely in our logo. A recent chamber of commerce coffee table book about the county featured our building as its cover, not needing to provide a caption as the building is instantly recognizable. We are currently building the second classroom building on campus and have found that the first building does indeed provide the necessary orientation to the site and has raised the design aspiration of the next group of architects.