Located at the “campus crossroads”, The Dudley H. Davis Student Center at the University of Vermont provides a key link between the academic and residential campuses.
The dynamic facility incorporates multiple student services, including a 200-seat black box theater, a 600-seat performing arts space, dining hall, campus bookstore, conference facilities, and more.
This was the first LEED-NC Gold Certified student center in the nation.
PROJECT TYPE:
New Construction, University Student Center
DESIGN SERVICES:
Architecture and Interior Design
in collaboration with WTW Architects
PROJECT AREA:
217,000 sq.ft.
COMPLETION DATE:
2007
CERTIFICATION:
LEED Gold Certified
AWARDS:
Excellence Award, Assoc of College Unions Intern’l (ACUI), 2009
Best of the Best in Commercial Building Design & Construction, Efficiency Vermont, 2008
Hertzel N. Pasackow Architectural Excellence Award, Burlington Business Association, 2008
Engineering Excellence, Grand Award, American Council of Engineering Companies of Vermont, 2008
The construction of the Davis Student Center addressed a critical need for a central student hub on campus – a place where students, faculty and visitors could gather to exchange ideas and hold events.
The building scale is sympathetic to the street context, and its form connects it to the historic buildings fronting the campus green.
Located at the “campus crossroads”, The Dudley H. Davis Student Center at the University of Vermont (UVM) provides a key link between the academic and residential campuses.
A four-story atrium and an outdoor ellipse is located at the entrance to the building, creating a gateway to the University.
The Davis Center was the first LEED-NC Gold Certified student center in the nation. The building is a highly visible model of sustainability for the University of Vermont.
The 186,000 square foot building achieves energy savings of over 50% with a super-insulated building envelope and an integrated building management system. A green roof further reduces the building’s cooling load while creating a pleasant exterior plaza.
A curved four-story atrium includes a cascading curved stair connecting the upper level entry to the academic quad two stories below. Major east-west circulation routes through the building connect to this central stair.
The Davis Center and its central atrium space foster a new ‘connectedness’ between separate campuses. The atrium is the heart of this circulation plan, connecting students through the Davis Center and linking to the residential campus across Main Street.
