A Campus Center and a Land Bridge Open at Lawrence U.

The campus-center project at Lawrence U. included a bridge, seen in the foreground, that links two sides of the campus. (Lawrence U. photo)

A $35-million, 107,000-square-foot campus center that was nearly two decades in the planning opened this month at Lawrence University. In addition to offering a variety of social spaces for students, the multilevel project adds a land bridge over South Lawe Street, which crosses the campus. The bridge is intended to help the university expand to the east.

The glassy building is called the Richard and Margot Warch Campus Center. It has dining facilities, offices for student organizations, a 134-seat cinema, and a variety of multi-use spaces that can accommodate up to 500 people. Besides opening up the east side of the campus, the building was designed to celebrate the Fox River, of which it offers expansive views. Many older campus buildings turn their backs on the once-polluted river.

Lawrence, in Appleton, Wis., originally planned to seek LEED silver certification for the building but now hopes it will qualify for gold certification instead. In addition to vegetated roofs, the facility has extra-efficient heating and air-conditioning systems and other sustainable features. And 96 percent of the waste generated during construction was recycled. Architects were KSS Architects, of Princeton, N.J., and Uihlein-Wilson Architects, of Milwaukee.

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