commonsmain

Bay Path College needed to make both functional and aesthetic improvements to the existing student center that would encourage its continued use by the students and make it the focal point of the Campus.

Program requirements included student office and workspace, gathering areas for socializing, student lounge space, study space, and a small multimedia theater. The program also included renovations to the Dining Hall and Serving Area, and expansion of existing uses such as the Bookstore, student mail area and snack bar.

A new addition joined the existing student center with the existing Fitness Center, creating one larger facility designed around student needs. The addition contains a large 2-story atrium space, which provides the sense of place that is essential to the design solution. The atrium functions as the heart of the Student Commons, containing the main entry, information area, multiple seating areas and allowing direct access to other uses such as the Dining Hall, Bookstore, small Café and game room.

By the scale of the space and through selection of the finish materials; which include maple woodwork and terrazzo tile floors, the atrium was designed to be a unique and dramatic space, which reinforces the identity of the facility as the center of the Campus.