Stevens & Wilkinson, a full-service architecture, engineering and interior design firm, announced today its Glenn and Towers Residence Halls renovation and expansion project was awarded the Excellence in Architecture for Building Additions or Adaptive Reuse merit award by the Society of College and University Planning (SCUP).
The SCUP Excellence Awards program is a juried competition that showcases how using strategic, integrated planning can result in exemplary buildings, grounds, institutional success, and careers that inspire.
The 124,775-square-foot LEED Gold project was a collaboration between architect of record VMDO Architects and Stevens & Wilkinson. Stevens & Wilkinson provided full professional design services for the 111,000-square-foot residence hall renovation and architectural support for the new commons building. In addition to modernizing all the usual amenities, Stevens & Wilkinson updated all the student areas including restrooms, lounges, kitchens, laundries and residential units. The renovation also included the addition of program space between the existing buildings that incorporate exercise, meeting, study and lobby spaces to which students can walk.
“The renovation and expansion of the Glenn and Towers Residence Halls has made a meaningful impact on the Georgia Tech community,” said Todd Dolson, senior associate at Stevens &Wilkinson. “The project has been very well-received by the first-year students, and we look forward to seeing its influence in the higher education sector of our industry."
Georgia Tech’s Glenn and Towers Residence Halls are home to over 600 freshmen. By hosting Georgia Tech’s Freshman Experience, the buildings help incoming residents build a personal and academic foundation within the context of a diverse and inclusive community. The revitalization of the halls improves connectivity and removes barriers to the way students interact with one another and the larger Georgia Tech campus.
A top engineering and science university, Georgia Tech needed a design that would allow students flexible spaces that dissolve boundaries between work and play, study and socializing. The design of a glass-wrapped connector building, situated between the two residence halls, supports and showcases a nearly endless combination of student activities while creating a graceful strategy for surmounting a topographically challenging site from the street up into a renewed quad for Glenn and Towers residents.
In addition to SCUP’s Architecture for Building Additions or Adaptive Reuse merit award, the project has also received excellence in sustainable rehabilitation in the Georgia Trust Preservation Awards, first place in the best sustainable practices division in the Associated General Contractors Build Georgia Awards, first place construction group in the Associated General Contractors Build Georgia Awards,Southeast Best Projects Award in the renovation and restoration category by Engineering News Record and honorable mention in architecture in the American Institute of Architects Virginia Design Awards.
