The project consisted of locating a series of interdisciplinary Study Centers, where students and faculty from a range of departments could come together and share ideas of common interest, in one easily accessible location on Campus. The administration decided on renovating the centrally located Wright Hall as an integrated home for the various Centers.

Wright Hall is a 3 story 38,000 SF building located on the lower quad of Smith College. Its’ 1961 contemporary design is a solid example of contextual modernism. The building was originally designed to house a mix of functions, including a 400 seat auditorium used for presentations and lectures. Most recently, the building has housed faculty offices, seminar rooms, computer labs, and The Poetry Center. In addition to the Poetry Center, the new centers include the Global Studies Center (GSC), the Center for the Environment, Ecological Design, and Sustainability (CEEDS), and the Center for Community Collaboration (CCC). Our challenge was to create identifiable environments within the building for each of the centers, while allowing a sense of connectedness and flow within the building. In addition, our task was to completely upgrade the physical building envelope, including systems and utilities, while also making the building fully ADA accessible.

Within the building, the centers were located as collective destinations along the major public circulation path. Because of the building’s terraced location on campus, this path enters and exits the building on multiple levels and directions, encouraging both interdisciplinary and physical campus-wide integration. The new centers share design language in materials and detailing, while establishing identity with color and graphic cues. Identity colors are reinforced in furniture selection and flooring, where concentrations of color announce the centers, then continue to intermingle along the public path.

The need for increased accessibility and additional programmed space for the centers was satisfied by an innovative building addition cantilevered over the longspan roof of the auditorium. This solution created much needed square footage within the building footprint, providing space for conference, library and meeting functions. Seismic upgrades to the auditorium below were also integrated into the structural work for the addition. As both the entrance to this path and its crossroads within the building, the main entrance lobby has been completely redesigned and expanded to create a welcoming gathering space, complete with espresso bar and lounge seating. A new glass and stainless steel stair continues down to both additional Study Centerson the Garden Level below, and the Weinstein auditorium.