A Campus Legacy, by Design

ON THE MALL CAMPUS LIFE

Architecture Alums Shaped 25+ UMD Buildings—and Counting

FOR THREE DECADES, alums from UMD’s Architecture Program have revisited the familiar grounds of College Park, lured not by basketball season or Maryland Day, but the rare privilege to make a permanent contribution to campus.

Since Tom Eichbaum ’74 designed Van Munching Hall in the early 1990s, Terps have mapped out over 25 buildings on Maryland’s campus, not including countless additions and renovations, projects throughout Greater College Park and over a dozen master plans.

We get behind the bricks and mortar to learn what drove the design of some of Maryland’s most iconic spaces—and a few on

the way. —MAGGIE HASLAM

Read the stories behind more of UMD’s Terpdesigned buildings—including one with its own ice cream flavor—at terp.umd.edu. OAKLAND HALL (2011)

Bob Keane ’87 / WDG As a student, Keane lived in the smallest residence hall, the Georgian-style Howard Hall. Oakland is its antithesis: UMD’s largest, with abundant glass and metal and a focus on sustainability. “Residence halls are typically not really glamorous buildings,” says Keane. “But that doesn’t mean they can’t be elegant and dynamic.”

NEW RESIDENCE HALL AND DINING COMPLEX (2022)

Glenn Birx ’80, Jasmine Shah ’04, Andrew Casavant ’10, M.C.P. ’14, Anne Dutton ’01, M.Arch. ’03, Glenn Neighbors ’82 and Dana Perzynski ’06 / Ayers Saint Gross Shah drew inspiration for the site’s connective spaces between buildings for gathering and studying from the Architecture Building’s Great Space, where she spent untold hours as an undergrad. “It provided a sense of community: a place to gather, share ideas, learn and live at all hours of the night.”

KNIGHT HALL (2010)

Steve Parker ’72 and Kieran Wilmes ’97 / Grimm + Parker The glass-filled building deviates from traditional structures on campus to symbolize the transparent nature of journalism. Parker and Wilmes worked with faculty to “steal” square footage from classrooms and labs and carve out a two-story gathering space anchored by an auditorium and obligatory coffee shop—teaching students early what fuels the day’s news. WASHINGTON QUAD (2008)

Tom Zeigenfuss ’94, M.Arch. ’00 / Design Collective Nestled between six dormitories on South Campus, the redevelopment stitched together existing paths and vistas with an outdoor hub, or “living room,” for socializing. The quad is a favorite among students: “It’s the only space I’ve seen on campus that has a Google rating,” says Zeigenfuss.

XFINITY CENTER (2002)

Ed Kohls ’77, Jeffrey Banner ’82 and Eric Wohnsigl ’91, M.Arch. ’00 / Design Collective The 17,950-seat home of Maryland basketball had to share at least one quality with its beloved predecessor, Cole Field House: an opponent-crushing, 4,000-seat wall of sound, via one of the nation’s largest student sections, flanking each side of the court and looming behind the visitors’ second-half basket.

COMPUTER SCIENCE INSTRUCTIONAL CENTER (2002)

Roger Schwabacher M. Arch. ’99 / HOK The compact, curved building for the Department of Computer Science joined office and classroom space with an inviting atrium, but it’s the exterior that transformed this pocket of campus by carving out a courtyard with native plantings and seating. The back curvature of the building holds a secret: an intricate pattern in the brick designed by Schwabacher. A. JAMES CLARK HALL (2017)

Craig Spangler M.Arch. ‘82, Stephen Bartlett ’82 and Rachel Mihaly ’11, M.Arch. ’14 / Ballinger Named for the late philanthropist, real estate developer and 1950 graduate, UMD’s home for bioengineering features a DNA-inspired solar veil that shades three stories of labs, classrooms and meeting spaces, while a ceiling-mounted track cable ferries giant objects across the massive first-floor makerspace.

SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY BUILDING (2022)

Irena Savakova M.Arch ’95 / Leo E. Daley The design of the school’s new home was inspired in part by Athens’ ancient Agora, United Nations assembly rooms and Dean Robert Orr’s request for a special space for speakers to engage with students—which came to life as a fourth-floor terrace. “You have to go back to the roots of how public policy came to be, where this diverse group of people would engage in discussions about how best to orchestrate the public good,” says Savakova.