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CAB Redesign |
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Redesigning the College Activities Building (CAB)
worleyr 2006-04-13 18:09
The CAB is the primary social space for students and faculty on the Evergreen campus. It has served as the location for the campus foodservice, for extracurricular student activities, and for retail sales on campus since its construction thirty three years ago. Since that time, much has changed at Evergreen. The college has dramatically increased in size and the needs of its students have increased as well. The condition of the kitchen facilities has deteriorated since that time and is in need of an upgrade. The number of student groups of campus has increased to nearly seventy. Many student activities offices now have three or more groups in a single cubicle area. In addition, there continues to be several perceived shortcomings of the building by the student body. In 2003, a study of campus life was conducted that was designed to identify the needs of the student body regarding their use of campus facilities. This study showed that students found lounge spaces in the CAB were lacking in terms of their ability to provide a variety of spaces (loud social spaces, quiet study spaces, etc.) and in their overall level of comfort. Foodservice was also identified as an area of major improvement. Students felt that foodservice was too compartmentalized and had too much of a cafeteria feel. Other identified areas of improvement were an improved sense of connection to the CRC and better integration of indoor and outdoor space. In the Spring of 2005, the campus life study group hired architects from KMB Educational Facilities Group to conduct a series of charettes. Building upon the results of the student surveys, the architects sought to clarify and prioritize some of the needs that emerged from the survey; assess what if any needs have changed since the opening of Seminar II; and tap into groups of students under-represented in the survey to provide opportunities for more face-to-face interaction on issues that emerged in the survey. By this time in the process, student interest in an expanded union was apparent and the charettes focused on spaces and design elements that could be incorporated into an expanded union. Staff from KMB met with three groups of students representing day-time students, Housing students and evening and weekend students. The architects also met with a group of faculty and staff, since they recognized that faculty and staff might have thoughts about the design of an expanded union and have their own needs for gathering spaces. All meetings were well attended, with participation ranging from twelve to twenty individuals. From the results of these projects, the CAB redesign was envisioned. Students who responded to the survey expressed strong interest in a student union facility dedicated to socializing, relaxing, eating and participating in clubs and organizations. The students who participated in charettes indicated that an ideal student union would serve as a central location for integrating diverse programs on campus and should serve as a central information center for campus way-finding, activities and events. These are the primary areas of concern identified by the campus life study group: A. More lounge spaces. There is a strong interest in the creation of spaces that would be readily available to students with comfortable furniture, good sound isolation and casual access to food service. B. More student organization office space. C. A setting that could be used for the display of artwork. D. Large and small performance spaces. E. Expanded hours of operation for food services. F. A variety of dining spaces including more private and intimate locations as well as areas where larger groups could dine together. G. Kitchen facilities to accommodate expanded food offerings. H. Provision of Internet access. I. An improved Faculty/Staff Lounge in newly created space. Sources Cited: Campus Life Study Group Report, September 2005 |
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