Salisbury University Patricia R. Guerrieri Academic Commons
Studio: Sasaki
Project: Salisbury University Patricia R. Guerrieri Academic Commons
Location: Salisbury, Maryland, USA
Year: 2016
Project Category: Dreaming
Photo credits: Jeremy Bitterman
The new building, sited at the core of the campus, brings all academic support programs together with a state-of-the-art library, classrooms, cafe, 400-seat assembly space, and the Nabb Research Center—a special collections library preserving the history and culture of the Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
Common ground for all academic disciplines, the Commons supports all modes of learning, from individual contemplative study to collaborative, technology-rich group engagement. Program elements are arrayed around a dramatic four-story learning commons with each floor dedicated to a specific type of learning.
The ground floor is devoted to staff-supported collaboration. The second floor focuses on teaching and learning skills. The third floor supports individual reflective learning. And the fourth floor—which contains the Nabb Research Center and large assembly space—facilitates engagement with original sources and learning through dialogue.
The building is located at the historic crossroads on campus, requiring strategies to knit the building into the existing fabric and diminish the impact of its 226,000 square feet. It also mediates between very different scales and characteristics on campus.