Photo Courtesy of KSS
Commercial buildings often stand for at least 50 years and with the high price tag and time commitment, renovations are few and far between. One of the biggest hurdles in designing these buildings and renovations is how to best update buildings while also trying to suit the needs of the community for another few decades. As if raising anywhere from $10-$60 million isn’t hard enough, predicting the needs of the future? Pretty impossible. But selling the campus community on the need for renovations, even just cosmetic ones? Quite easy. Communities often feel the need for renovations even 10 years after the construction of a building to keep it looking nice and modern.
As part of the ongoing strategic plan to both maintain the college campus and improve the space, the College has proposed a series of renovations centered around the Crozier-Williams Campus Center. As part of the design and consulting process, students were invited on Nov. 17 to attend forums, view the design moodboards, and give input. Walking into Cro, and seeing the futuristic, modern vision juxtaposed against the current design was incredibly exciting. Designed using a nice warm, clean, modern palette, and the end result is Cro looking like it got a fancy new facade. But that’s it, the renovations are simply a very, very pricey facelift, without any acknowledgment of any core usage problems, or sustainability initiatives.
Simply put, these renovations do not support a changing world and community for the next 30+ years. When asked about the proposed project, it became clear that many of the renovations weren’t focused on increasing functionality in currently underused places but rather increasing the square footage of student space. Pitching to students the addition of more spaces for students is great… except we already have spaces. We just don’t know how to utilize them beyond study spaces. There’s a litany of rooms located in Cro that are all large and general purpose: 1962, 1941, and Cro’s Nest, but they are largely empty on the weekdays and weekends.
Including equipment which acknowledges common uses of these rooms would make for a much better student experience, and likely increase usage of these rooms. Take for example the MOBROC showcase held in Cro’s Nest this fall. Live student music is a cornerstone of this College, with over seven student bands and several open mic nights, and yet there is no good place to host with good acoustics. Cro’s Nest makes an effort and has a small stage and small booth area, and yet it has significant drawbacks. There isn’t much in the way of acoustics for live music leaving students with an echoey room, and a dominating drum set. In comparison to a building renovation with a $15 million dollar price tag, allocating money to improve the acoustics in a room (which might cost around $10,000) is pennies, for a huge payoff to students’ events and an enduring impact.
Additionally, whenever the 1962 room gets used for college events, such as orientation or fall weekend, electrical cables are often run duct taped to the floor. Incorporating a 4 inch raised floor into the proposed renovations would eliminate this need. You wouldn’t need to run cables on top of the floor, and it would provide more flexibility in coming decades when HDMI cables are likely replaced. It could be a hefty price tag around $100k, but it’s an investment into the future safety and useability of the college spaces.
While increasing the curb appeal of a building is vital, at the price tag currently pitched, the College cannot afford to only spend money on aesthetic appeal without addressing key spacial needs. Looking forward to more renovations in the years to come, approaching renovation ideas with flexible designs meant to change with the growth of the community would be a step in the right direction for the college.
