Baltimore-based Loyola University Maryland’s collegiate foundation is based upon the Jesuit virtue of exploration: to go forth and create meaningful professional service and leadership. Connection to the community expresses itself not only in sending students out into the world but also inviting the world in. This give and take is at the nexus of the transformational renovation and addition to Beatty Hall.
The addition of the Miguel B. Fernandez Family Center for Innovation and Collaboration augments active learning opportunities and provides a home for collaboration and innovation through spaces for diverse social interactions and connections. The center’s interactive, versatile teaching and learning spaces highlight Loyola’s signature programs, such as the Forbes Idea Lab and Rizzo Career Center, creating a link between student learning and the exploration and pursuit of future goals.
The renovation breathes new life into Loyola’s historic Beatty Hall, completed in 1922, and doubles its size of approximately 30,000 square feet. The design of the 62,445-square-foot center positions the renewed Beatty Hall as a centerpiece of the historic campus green while the new city-facing expansion creates a new campus gateway and link to the community. Previously, Beatty Hall was used for academic programs and departments in soft sciences. While some of the departments were brought back into the building, newer programs were also added. The original building was in need of contemporary active learning classrooms, a home for the new program of innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as a new home for the career center. The concept for Beatty Hall and the Fernandez center is to enhance connections between faculty and students, students and the community, Loyola life and the world beyond in multidirectional relationships.
A Student Hub
At the heart of the newly renovated Beatty Hall, the Forbes Idea Lab serves as an interdisciplinary student hub for research, project work and entrepreneurship. It is the most experimental spot in the building, serving as the physical and metaphorical center where innovative ideas and interdisciplinary connections will occur. The space can be used for multiple classes to combine or as the starting point for workshops that break into the smaller surrounding rooms.
The complex addition and renovation is designed to allow for community mingling and ensure attention is paid to the space in between. While each faculty office section functions as formal and in- formal meeting spaces, the Academic Loft on the third level offers the largest unassigned work and lounge area for students and faculty to meet. During the day, the space is a hub of activity with different seating choices, encouraging students to hang out and providing a space for faculty to meet and work outside of their offices.
Sustainability Goals
The building addition and renovation blurs the boundaries between inside and outside. A living green wall in the café space in the addition gives a natural backdrop to the interior community social space in the building while views of campus and the community provide a connection to the landscape. To further the connection to nature, outdoor classrooms were created to encourage teaching and learning outside.
Aspirational sustainability goals were one of the primary focuses of the project. The guiding principles aligned with the values of the institution to prioritize occupant health and wellness, energy efficiency and stormwater management. To achieve these goals, the project incorporated healthier materials, biophilic design principles, high-performance mechanical systems, and a green roof and bioretention area as part of a three-phase stormwater retention system.
On the interior, sustainability focuses on the health of the occupants. Low-VOC materials and paint were used throughout the building. Biophilic-inspired patterns can be found in the carpets, which are made from recycled materials. Natural wood is used in the ceilings and wall paneling with wool-felt panels on the built-in benches. Integrated LED lighting throughout helps to reduce the buildings energy consumption while providing great light.
Natural light provides the most benefits for the center’s users. High-performance glass harnesses daylight and views. Sun shading was not just decorative but is designed at an angle that will block the high summer sun and let in some of the low winter sun, reducing the glare within classrooms and offices, and allowing for unobstructed views out of the building.
PHOTOS: Anton Grassl unless otherwise noted