Whitman School of Managment/Syracuse University

Narratives

Architect Narrative

Every design decision for this new home for the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University was made between the architect and the owner (Syracuse University Office of Design and Construction) with a focus on students and creating an environment that promotes a culture of collegiality and a high-tech, world-class learning experience. Sharing similar sensibilities, such as aesthetics, design goals, and ecological consciousness, the architect and owner worked together to create a building that breaks out of the traditional notion of campus design, serves as a new Gateway to the University, bridges the University to the surrounding town, and incorporates environmental sustainable design practices into the entire project. This collaborative effort led to a reinvention of the business school paradigm, an extraordinary stimulating learning environment, and the creation of an important demonstration of sustainable architecture to future business leaders. As one of the nation’s oldest business schools but also one of the most innovative, the Whitman School of Management continues to be a maverick in redefining management education and making strategic shifts in curricula to nuture and challenge students in an era of global competitiveness and technological advancements.

CONTEXT
The building responds to the campus’s recent expansion into downtown and forms a new gateway to the University. The diverse scale of the surrounding neighborhood includes an 11-story hotel, an assortment of low- and mid-rise commercial and University buildings, fraternity houses, and a parking garage. To establish a new urban fabric, the project team separated the building into distinct volumes, each with its own function and expression, connected by a multi-level internal street - or “spine.” This ensemble of three volumes and circulation elements creates a modernist brick, metal and glass composition that engages the scale and character of the surroundings and diminishes the stark contrast between the hotel and the main campus.

PEDESTRIAN ACCESS AND CIRCULATION
The primary entry point is situated near the center of the University Avenue street-front. Within a landscaped forecourt, a fan-shaped ramp draws the pedestrian traffic from the main campus up to the elevated first level, connecting directly to the spine. The circulation spine unifies the composition, brings clarity and orientation to the occupants and, through its diaphanous façade, animates the building both day and night. Stairs extend the spine’s glass enclosure beyond the volumes at the north and south ends. Designed to give identity to the exterior, a 4,000 square-foot multi-purpose glass atrium is the heart of the ensemble. Aglow with natural light and adorned with interior trees, the atrium provides an ideal lounge/study/special event area with a strong sense of place. At night, the atrium’s transparency opens the building to the street, offering dramatic views of the campus and downtown.

INTERIOR SPACES
The finishes of the building balance a dignified corporate ambience and a free-spirited student learning environment. Elements of the building’s structural steel frame are expressed throughout, creating an awareness of the building’s “bones” and giving a sense of its integrity. The character of the central spine orients with daylighting at its center and ends, distinctive artifical lighting, a metallic ceiling, and a sparkling terrazzo floor. Each floor, with its own programmatic function, is color coded at key entry portals and accent walls to enhance orientation and reduce the need for additional way-finding applications. Natural daylight penetrates nearly every space in the building with the emphasis on common and circulation areas; this creates almost a constant link to the outside.

TEACHING SPACES
Expressing the essence of the building’s function, the classrooms are clustered in a volume as a “machine for teaching.” This three /four-story element is set back from the street and framed like a jewel-box between the hotel and the masonry components of the ensemble. Straddling each side of the spine where students congregate between sessions, each classroom accommodates 35 to 75 students and is tiered in a horseshoe shape to facilitate interactive learning. A custom wood-paneled “teaching wall” creates a focus and framework at the front of each space while incorporating state-of-the-art audio/visual and IT equipment. Windows provide daylight into the four floors of above-grade classrooms. Dimmable lighting accommodates various modes of teaching, video projection, and broadcasting.

PROGRAMMATIC CONCEPT
Each of the primary curriculum programs — Undergraduate, Graduate and Executive — occupies its own floor in the building. This includes administrative offices, student activity and breakout rooms, and classrooms. Common functions, such as the cafeteria and special teaching spaces, are interspersed on these floors to assure a degree of interaction between students of different programs. The faculty offices and support facilities clustered in the taller, masonry volume on the top two floors, provide calmness away from major activity and ensures camaraderie and communication between academic departments, while remaining accessible to students. The concourse and first floor levels provide spaces for reception and other common uses as well as classrooms shared with the University as a whole.

SUSTAINABILITY
In addition to having a very high-performing envelope to minimize energy usage, the building uses right-sized building systems, under-floor air displacement in the classrooms, radiant cooling and heating in the atrium space, highly efficient air filtration and distribution and a sophisticated building monitoring system. All materials specified, such as carpet, paint, furniture and ceiling tiles have low-VOC content, and a high content of recyclable materials is used throughout. Construction and maintenance practices comply with the highest standards and to ensure that the building retains its sustainable quality throughout its life-time. The building is designed to adapt to changing social and academic needs, assuring its timelessness and relevance for the University.

Educator Narrative

The world of business schools is, at times, as competitive as the world of business itself. To strengthen our standing and increase our competitive edge among business schools around the world, the School of Management launched the Higher Ground Campaign with the goal of enhancing student, faculty, and programmatic support, as well as of building a state-of-the-art facility that would reflect both the University’s commitment and history of innovative business education and the School’s role as a cutting-edge, experiential learning environment.

The emphasis of the new building needed to represent the strong sense of community at the School with the addition of much-needed spaces to foster informal interaction and to facilitate special events. The building also needed to establish the school as student-focused, with designated spaces used for undergraduate, graduate, and executive study and research. A tertiary goal was to expand student services within the building, particularly those offered by the Career Center and by the Visitor’s Center. Because business schools reflect the business world, the building — particularly classrooms, team rooms, and computer labs - needed to be outfitted with the most up-to-date and relevant technology. Students needed to learn and work in an environment dedicated to active learning and innovative thinking.

The new 165,000-square-foot home for the School opened for business in 2005. The centerpiece of the new building is a student focused facility that, from the ground up, delivers nationally prominent programs within walls that foster collegiality and community. The 165,000-square-foot School building supports the host of learning experiences essential to a first-rate management education and enriches the student experience at all levels.

The building includes: 22 classrooms / 200-seat auditorium / 20 team meeting rooms / undergraduate and graduate computer clusters / 11 centers and institutes / 12 student clubs and organizations / Career Center / The Lubin Visitor’s Center

The School fosters a strong sense of community, with special study areas for undergraduate, graduate, and executive students help build identity and cohesion, while the Ilene and David Flaum Grand Hall, the Milton Room, the Olsten Café, and comfortable conversation areas tucked throughout the building encourage casual interaction among faculty, students, staff, alumni, and visitors.

The new building boasts many spaces for innovative and collaborative research, including: The Ballentine Center, with sophisticated software that prepares students for financial careers on Wall Street, and an integrated space for the school’s endowed research centers and institutes

Students, faculty, and staff of the School of Management enjoy learning and working in a building that is not only the jewel of the University campus, but is in many ways serving as a model for other business schools contemplating new construction.