Expansion offers more efficient space for Rosalind Franklin University’s interactive teaching style
The Centennial Learning Center creates a new front door to Rosalind Franklin University’s 97-acre campus, provides a hub of student activity, and encourages teamwork. Seventy-five percent of the 73,000-square-foot center is dedicated to learning spaces that enhance interaction between faculty and students. The new space also includes a suite of offices for a nursing program.
The three-level center has offices, lecture halls, learning laboratories, a fitness center, locker rooms, and student common areas. Large-scale learning labs house 100 to 300 students but also support small-scale teams. Each lab offers video screens and large tables with eight stations wired for computers.
The renovated DNA Café connects the Centennial Learning Center with the existing campus and serves as a new student union. The renovated kitchen is completely upgraded with modernized equipment.
The glass wall above the entry displays the Centennial Room, a learning lab that doubles as a venue for special functions. The space extends over the entry to form a canopy.
The design of the Centennial Learning Center reflects the legacy of Dr. Rosalind Franklin as a central figure in the discovery of the structure of DNA: DNA sequencing inspired the slender window slots in the façade, as well as the patterns in the carpeting, walls, and paving.
