Nick Leko took on the responsibility for detailed design of the exterior envelope of this award-winning new building. Perkins Eastman designed the new branch campus for this state university in downtown Stamford. The design team master planned a new university precinct in the downtown area, as well as the $58M US campus building. This first phase included renovation of a vacated department store for use as the major academic building, rehabilitation of an existing parking garage, and a new urban park. The building program consists of traditional instruction spaces including auditoriums, classrooms, teaching laboratories, art studios and computer laboratories with ancillary spaces such as faculty and administrative offices, research laboratories, library, lounges, dining and exercise rooms, conference centre, and support spaces.
The building was planned as the centrepiece of a growing campus located next to the Rippowam River and marks the northwest gateway to Stamford’s Central Business District. A three-story academic concourse which was added to the south street front of the existing building. Forming the primary entry to the university, this concourse is clad in a transparent cable-truss curtain wall. The program for the concourse includes the more public functions of the campus: the library entrance with overhead reading room, food facilities, bookstore, art gallery, and entrance to the conference centre, open access computer labs, student service functions, and the main security and information desk.
