NC A&T State University - Addition and Renovation to the Schools of Arts & Sciences and Business & Economics

Designed as an addition to two existing classroom buildings at North Carolina A&T State University, the General Classroom Building houses the expanded programs of the College of Business and the College of Arts & Sciences.  The 140,000 Sq. Ft four-story addition contains classrooms, faculty offices, conference rooms, teaching labs, and a 400-seat auditorium.

This project is designed as a single building due to funding requirements, but the two colleges had a desire to have separate identities.  A two-story breezeway which bisects the addition at ground level preserves the separate identities of the two colleges, as each college has its own separate lobby.  This breezeway serves the larger functions of providing a gateway at the eastern edge of the campus and connecting the main campus quad to the adjacent urban fabric.  While the breezeway separates the two colleges, a pedestrian bridge which spans the breezeway connects the two programs and allows for the sharing of larger common spaces such as the auditorium and conference rooms.

The building is composed of a rectilinear brick volume containing classrooms and offices, and a series of metal panel volumes containing the auditorium and circulation elements, which pull away from the brick volume.  The interstitial space which results from this pulling away can be occupied, and one experiences this interstice while ascending a monumental stair, overlooking an atrium space, or circulating around the auditorium volume.  Alignment of the interstitial space with existing street and sidewalk elements allows passers-by to read the separation of volumes.