Stone’s Green Look on Campus

By K. Schipper

APPLETON, Wis. – At Lawrence University, a campus tradition – using local stone for its halls of learning – ended up as a plus to meet 21st-century concerns.

Building a new student center for the private liberal-arts institution already offered plenty of challenges, from the timeframe involved in getting to the formal groundbreaking to finding a design that would fit the steeply elevated site along the Fox River.

School officials added one more hurdle; they were adamant the project receive at least a LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver Certification, making materials choices critical.

Click photo to enlargeEnter natural stone as a sustainable solution, by incorporating a Wisconsin limestone into the exterior – and selected areas of the interior – of the building.

The result: not only has the Richard and Margot Warch Campus Center earned a number of awards for its design and sustainability – including a LEED Gold Certification – but the finished project is as stunning as its riverfront setting.

EPIC ENDEAVOR

While the new campus center opened for students only two years ago, Lynn Hagee, project manager for the university, says it isn’t an exaggeration to say it was almost 20 years in the making.

“The problem from the first was the footprint,” she says. “When we initially started, it was just going to gobble up so much ground; because we wanted our food service and our post office in there, we had to make arrangements for deliveries from 18-wheelers.”

When the student body grew and dormitory space became an issue, the campus center was put on the backburner. Later, when interest picked up on the project, a lack of funds caused the pace to crawl.

Then, the university happened to hire two separate architectural and design firms that helped resolve key issues.

The first was Watertown, Mass.-based Sasaki Associates, which created a master plan for the campus.

“For a number of years, we had turned on backs on the river because there was industry across from the campus,” says Hagee. “Then, we hired Sasaki –a terrific master-planning firm – and one of the questions they asked us was, ‘Why are you turning your backs on the river?’ They told us, ‘You need to take advantage of the river.’”