Page 36 - College Planning & Management, November 2017

floor. A new underground level comprises dressing rooms and stage preparation with an elevator, allowing full professional pro- ductions. “It’s a three-dimensional puzzle of stacking and reorganizing spaces within the existing volume,” says Chung.
Furniture and textiles throughout the build- ing were chosen for their timelessness. “We have to be mindful that what we choose doesn’t look dated in seven or eight years. In retail, they switch these out every year, but at universities, they don’t have the resources to change surfaces and interiors often,” Chung says. “So, we resist big patterns and go for something more muted, and we go for textures instead of a flat appear- ance to give more of a sense of plushness.”
The new lobby’s furniture typifies the flexibility-oriented design of the project, able to accommodate class scenarios, re- ceptions or even performances. Its multi- functional tables raise and lower to serve as coffee tables or high-topped dining tables,
while work counters can accommodate stu- dents studying or act as serving tables for an after-performance gathering. “This goes back to everybody looking to get the most out of that investment,” Leers says.
A few well-placed materials with texture can go a long way. While many walls at the Gor- don Center are basic painted drywall, for ex- ample, the eye naturally gravitates to one wall clad in dyed wood panels. “You’re concentrat- ing your resources to make the most impact,” Chung explains. “In the Design Building, we did something similar. We concentrated our resources in the wood slat ceiling, hiding some of the big heavy equipment and ductwork.”
Since the Gordon Center opened in Janu- ary, the facility has become a magnet not only for theater students, but for the entire cam- pus. “People are hanging out there because the lobby is inviting,” Leers says of the facility. “The university is getting a lot of mileage out of this very modest investment. And that’s the
big overarching goal we have discovered in all campus design today: do more with less.”
Perhaps it’s appropriate that one of these campus buildings is for design students and the other for theater, because the interiors Leers Weinzapfel created at UMass and Salem State each combine smart, economical thinking with a refined sense of drama, performance and lon- gevity. These are wide-open interiors meant to wow us, but flexible enough to wow in different ways depending on the day, the hour, or the year.
“We look at the overall concept in terms of interior decisions. Does it reinforce the architectural principles?” Chung says. “If it does that, it will stand the test of time.” CPM
Brian Libby is a Portland, OR-based journalist covering architecture and
design who contributes to ARCHITECT, Architectural Record, Metropolis, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and CityLab, among others.
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