Firms Partner for Two University Residence Projects

ATLANTA — Stevens & Wilkinson, a full-service architecture, engineering and interior design firm based in Atlanta and Columbia, S.C., is making its mark on campus housing design with projects at two major universities. The firm is currently working alongside VMDO Architects, headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., to renovate the historic Glenn and Towers Residence Halls at the Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT) in Atlanta, and to redesign Clemson University’s Core Campus Housing Precinct in Clemson, S.C.

Stevens & Wilkinson is working in association with VMDO Architects to provide architectural, engineering and interior design services for the Glenn and Towers Residence Halls revamp. This project will completely replace the buildings’ aging infrastructure systems, and bring both up to current ADA standards. More than 63,000 square feet will be upgraded in Glenn Hall, while just over 53,000 feet will benefit from renovations in Towers Hall.
“The 616 residents will enjoy new expanded social and study lounges, restrooms and laundries on every floor,” said Ron Stang, AIA, LEED AP, chairman for Stevens & Wilkinson Georgia in a statement.. “The renovation scope includes incorporating new elevators; converting existing open attic spaces into two new residential floors; and replacing slate roofs and historically accurate windows.”
The firms have also designed a new 8,400-square-foot facility that will connect the two residence halls, finally fulfilling the school’s original 1940 master plan. This structure will include a fitness center, several multipurpose meeting rooms, a classroom and a collection of study rooms. Thanks to a variety of sustainability measures, the combined 125,000-square-foot project is currently on track for LEED Gold certification upon its completion in mid 2015.
Exterior upgrades will include establishing a new outdoor recreation and entertainment space, as well as a walkway better linking the halls to other parts of the campus.
“The renovation of the halls sets the stage for the establishment of enriched student living accommodations that are in keeping with the high level of standards for which Georgia Tech is known,” Stang said.

Concurrently, Stevens & Wilkinson is completing an overhaul of three Clemson University housing facilities. In keeping with its 2002 Campus Master Plan, the university will demolish and replace three major buildings in the campus’ center in a quest to fundamentally reimagine the entire Core Campus Precinct, according to a statement from Stevens & Wilkinson.

During the initial development of Clemson’s Campus Master Plan, the university conducted a study examining forward-looking approaches to its housing, academic, dining and student life programs, and how they might be combined into a dynamic, mixed-used facility. VMDO Architects was also selected to direct the Clemson project, and again partnered with Stevens & Wilkinson, as well as Sasaki Associates with offices in Shanghai and Watertown, Mass.

VMDO developed a 700-bed housing initiative then collaborated with the two firms to develop “a clear and engaging vision for the precinct’s evolution,” according to Stevens & Wilkinson. The Clemson University Core Campus Housing project is scheduled for completion in 2016. The project will involve 179,000 square feet of residential space, with an additional 76,000 square feet of dining space and 5,000 square feet of academic space.

"The design fits very well with the Campus Master Plan and has embellished it in ways we could never have otherwise articulated,” said Gerald Vander May, director, campus planning for Clemson University, in a statement. “The program was very challenging, but through innovative problem solving and tireless interaction, the team has taken the complex goals of the university and fashioned a vision that has taken root.”