The architectural school has reoccupied the 90-year old 130,000 hall after an extensive renovation. The school had been located in different portions of Slocum Hall on the Syracuse University Campus since its construction in 1917.
The school wanted the renovation project to reflect the creative potential of architecture throughout the facility, and wanted the building to be environmentally and visually open to encourage interaction and increase natural light and ventilation.
Ample sky lights have been created for day light infiltration. Low-level ambient lighting and the path-of-travel lighting are combined in the design.
The entire building had to be recreated without any accumulated material of previous renovations in order to provide more functional spaces. A gallery and a 135-seat auditorium are constructed integrating into the original structure. The auditorium is designed as a three dimensional digital model.
The unused atrium of the building has been given a new life as public seating and public pin-up area. At the center of the building, a vast lecture hall featuring a flexible exhibition area is also created.
Garrison Architects, founded in 1991 by James Garrison, focuses on a wide range of building types from master plans for the city of Tokyo, to urban play grounds of recycled plastics.
