Schine Student Center Renovation

Jul 1

The Schine Student Center redesign was all about transparency and inclusion. There are destinations that are important to access easily, to be seen, to celebrate.

The design team conceived the new central atrium as a “boomerang that pulls students from outside campus into campus. As it transitions from the quad proper to blocks that are more community spaces with lots of students and community businesses, it acts as a gateway to the campus. The center of the boomerang is the atrium, the hub of all the activity.

After receiving student input for months, designers found a few key themes emerge, such as nutrition and biophilic elements, as well as a concept that became known as “see and be seen”: a mix of individual spaces where you’re still connected visually to the ongoing happenings in the building, as well as public spaces where you’re prominently displayed.

Within the greater context of the renovation, the lounge, offices, and Underground spaces craft points of interaction through the building specifically tailored to various program uses and act as a dramatic shift to create vibrant and inclusive environments. The Underground honors the legendary performance space from the original Schine, transforming the previously closed-off basement space into a more open yet intimate atmosphere for pre-function and lounge space. Students are now drawn in directly from Waverly Avenue into the building with the dramatic custom UNDERGROUND lit sign and rich finishes. Students have already deemed this the go-to lounge space on campus.

Another key component of the new Schine Student Center is the Intercultural Collective, which houses not only the university’s offices of multicultural affairs and LGBTQ and disability services, but also some 8,600 square feet for related student organizations to meet. Having not previously interacted, the stakeholder engagement process involved conveying their goals to each other and working collaboratively, facilitated by Vaysen, to determine their common and unique needs. The organizations’ missions were realized in this renovation, providing a space to celebrate their individual identities and offerings while fostering interaction and collaboration across the organization.