The 75,000 square feet Carol and Dennis Anderson University Center is located on the corner of Snelling and Englewood, and serves as the official entrance to the campus.
The curved shaped building accommodates flexible meeting spaces, and other amenities such as retail and meal plan dining, a coffee shop, convenience store, meditation room, an outdoor terrace, and a 10-seat computer bar.
The building is clad in zinc and terracotta. To add an element of transparency, a glass element is also incorporated into its design. The terracotta cladding enables the new building to blend with the traditional brick architecture of the other buildings of the university. Inside, the building has an informal path concept, which crosses the building site as a major organising feature. The new centre has a central curved stair, which vertically integrates the building.
The new centre has been designed in a way that it has minimal impact on the environment and to also achieve LEED Silver certification. The green elements of the development include solar array on the façade and a planted roof above the campus entry. The centre has a touchscreen display, which projects live building energy use data, and interactive displays that promote sustainable practices.
