School of Architecture & Community Design Begins Campaign to Renovate Building

The  School of Architecture & Community Design  is  embarking  on  a  campaign  to  renovate its  existing 1960s-vintage building. This presents an opportunity to create a highly creative and collaborative environment for students who will have access to facilities worthy of a top-tier research university. Aesthetically, the renovation will add glass to all studio spaces, making it an attractive and inviting glowing box by night and a well-lit, transparent workspace by  day. More practically, the design studios, currently virtually void of light, will enhance student growth and learning as they spend long, productive hours in safer, functional, and hospitable spaces. 

Embedded within the design studios will be a new open auditorium for lectures, reviews, and special events. The auditorium’s stepped seating area will physically connect various parts of the building and will encourage an extraordinary degree of interaction and communication between students. In addition, a new third floor gallery space dramatically cantilevers over the sidewalk on the south face of the building. This transparent space will host exhibits, receptions, and other events, while also connecting the School with the surrounding campus. The  building—at  once beautiful and utilitarian—will offer an interactive space that will singularly transform the presence of the building on the USF campus.