Friday, February 06, 2009
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Posted by: Nicolette Toussaint
For students and staff who were on campus a year ago, you were here for the grand opening of the University Student Center next to McDonald Hall.
The Center came about as the result of a broad collaboration among the Student Government Associations, the University, and Sodexho Corporation. A planning group lead by the co-chairpersons of the Graduate Student Government Association and the Undergraduate Student Government Association worked with the Student Life staff, a couple faculty members, and the University's architectural firm, Sillman Wright Architects and especially Tina Reagan, to put together a ground-up design that included new flooring, wall coverings, lighting, furnishings, restrooms, and food service area. The result, after six months of planning and three months of building, is the Student Center we enjoy today.
This fall all of the hard work of that planning group paid off again when the Student Center won an architectural award from American School and University for Outstanding Design for an Interior Renovation. The Alliant Student Center was competing with other school, college, and university interior spaces that had been redesigned over the past academic year. Quoting the article that appeared in the August edition of American School & University,
The Alliant student body wanted the remodel to create a modern, open, "great room" with a flexible floor plan for students to relax between classes. It also provides a meeting place for students and faculty (where) students are able to grab a snack or browse the Web on the wireless network. The design theme reflects a modern café using ambient lighting, multiple accent colors, and patterned floor finishes. The architect and the planning team created a new environment that functions as the student body requested (through a questionnaire process of data gathering). The new atmosphere attracts more students than ever before . . . with a sevenfold increase in sales compared to before the remodel.
So the next time you are hanging out in the University Student Center, check out the plaque that commerates this award, and remember that it was the hard work of several students, staff, and faculty that made this space happen . . . and happen in a way that would meet the needs of our whole campus community.
- News Item from Mike Pittenger, Associate VP for Student Life
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