Wiley College | Student Center

Wiley College’s Student Union was in need of a face lift, significant ADA improvements and a significant expansion in order to meet the growing needs of the student population. With the advent of a new 500 bed Residence Hall on campus (designed by RSA), the food service component of the Student Union could only accommodate 50% of the required student population. The College approached RSA with requirements for the Student Center project amounting to three separate additions on opposing sides of the building. RSA proposed a design to the College consolidating the three additions into one on the street side of the building. The proposed concept afforded Wiley College the opportunity to construct a contiguous new facade on the most visible side of the building, provide day lit Student Activity Areas on the lower level, mitigate a number of accessibility issues, enlarge Cafeteria seating by 400, replace an existing dysfunctional Auditorium with a new larger facility, and repurpose the old Auditorium into a new Bookstore. The project scope included additional parking at the rear of the building, renovation of the Food Prep, Dining Areas, Student Activity Areas, an Outdoor Green Space with Pavilions and an Amphitheater. RSA’s design called for cladding the existing structure with a new brick and cast stone facade punctuated by opposing barrel vaulted entrance canopies, solar shading canopies, oversized windows, light wells that provide daylight to the Student Activities area at the lower level and the campus’s hallmark circular form on the front elevation.