Speaking the Same Language THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN LAW SCHOOL SOUTH HALL Ann Arbor, MI

THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN LAW SCHOOL

SOUTH HALL

Ann Arbor, MI

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The University of Michigan Law School campus is a complex of buildings, organized around a monumental green-space, filling one city block on the south edge of the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus. The original buildings, built from stone in an ornate collegic gothic style, were designed by the firm of York and Sawyer and constructed between 1924 and 1933. The buildings include Lawyer’s Club, a residential hall with dining facilities, Hutchins Hall, the academic and faculty building, and Legal Research, the reading room and symbolic heart of the school. All three buildings feature intricate detailing throughout and would easily merit historic designation status. The new structure includes classroom and faculty offices across the street to the south and is the first major addition to the Law School in 50 years.

CAMPUS CONTEXT

SOUTH HALL:

PROJECT GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

While the existing academic buildings are majestic in nature, their age had taken a toll on their ability to accommodate current methods of teaching, interests of the faculty and student body and support the collegial nature of the school in general. Classrooms originally designed for large lecture formats were inappropriate for the seminar style classes that have increased in number and popularity. Clinical programs occupied leftover spaces in historic structures, making them remote from one another and fragmented. Faculty office space demands had increased as the number of faculty increased. The Law School South Hall project includes a new 100,000 square foot, four story academic building.

The goals of the project were to:

• Provide needed additional space,

• Relieve growth pressure on existing space, • Improve functionality and adjacency of the

academic spaces, and

• Provide enhanced faculty/administrative suites. Scale, material, proportion and rhythm were

carefully considered to create a new structure that is complementary to the historic Law Quadrangle. The LEED Gold structure contains classrooms, student lounges, law clinics, and faculty and administrative offices. While the interior is specifically tailored to the wide range of program elements and current trends in classroom design and technology, the simple cruciform plan is arranged to accommodate inevitable future changes and expansion that law school programs undergo.

SITE PLAN

A. South Hall - New Building B. Hutchins Hall (Existing)

C. Cook Legal Research Building (Existing) D. Aikens Commons (Existing)

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FIRST FLOOR PLAN

1. Seminar room 2. Classroom 3. Main stair 4. Lounge 5. Grand hall

6. Career & public services 7. Terrace

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WEST ELEVATION

1. Existing Hutchins Hall 2. New South hall

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ENTRY ARCH DETAIL

Above each of the three public entrances to South Hall is a legal symbol in bas relief: at the Monroe Street entrance, the scales of justice; at the entrance on Oakland, a torch illuminating an open book; and above the State Street door, a lamp atop stacked tomes. These legal symbols, in addition to being thematically appropriate to South Hall, connect the new to the old: the Law Quad’s buildings contain 14 small and 36 large shields repeating these and other legal themes.

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EAST ELEVATION WITH HUTCHINS HALL BEYOND

The original Law School structures were built with Weymouth granite and limestone trim in the early part of the 20th century. The stone was seam-faced with classic gray, tan and deep rust hues. Over time (and deeper into the quarry) the stone has shifted to split-faced with less range of colors. To enhance the color quartzite was added to the blend to give the facade orange and red highlights. The stone will darken over time.

MAIN STAIR AND GRAND HALL

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Interior spaces were designed to relate back to the existing law campus while keeping details simplified to maintain strict budgetary requirements. GFRG vaults articulate the main academic corridor while classrooms spaces visually connect to the hall via large arched openings with leaded glass panels. Details include customized alabaster chandeliers, customized tile pattern work, and oak doors and frames with leaded glass panes.

SEMINAR AND CLASSROOMS

light fixtures key sprinkler heads ACCESSIBLE PANELS hard PANEL light fixtures key sprinkler heads ACCESSIBLE PANELS hard PANEL FLOOR PLAN REFLECTED CEILING PLAN

SOUTH LOUNGE

FIREPLACE DETAIL

Stained glass narrative medallions, salvaged from windows at the renovated Law School buildings, were reused in several leaded glass panel doors. The limestone fireplace surround includes handmade tiles from a local tile artisans. The ceiling pattern is derivative of patterns found in the existing buildings.

SUSTAINABILITY

South Hall embodies a philosophy of sustainability and long-range thinking that considers the next several generations of education for the Law School. The new 100,000 square foot facility accomplishes the following sustainability objectives:

• to build a robust 100-year structure built to last; • locate the building directly adjacent to existing

facilities;

• incorporate a concise and flexible plan designed for future changes;

• and integrate the most current sustainable building technologies.

The Law School has a unique architectural history in that it is built in the Collegiate Gothic aesthetic, which is not the predominant style found at the University of Michigan. One inherent component of this style is to celebrate craftsmanship and materiality. This tradition possesses inherently sustainable concepts that make South Hall naturally sustainable as well. This is noted in use of regional materials (43.9%): Concrete and steel structure, Indiana limestone, tiles, fireplace tile work, gypsum, wood, insulation and aluminum windows as well as 98% FSC Certified oak wood doors, frames, and lites.

Built on a brownfield site immediately adjacent to the historic Law Campus, South Hall achieved LEED Gold certification.

efficient systems native and adaptive plants bicycle parking

SITE

native and adaptive plants heat island effect stormwater management water efficient

landscaping

built upon existing density and infrastructure

near public and UM bus lines 108 total parking spaces (200% more than required) 62% of site restored using native and adaptive plants

plant material chosen with low to very-low water requirements 100% in compliance (non-roof) treat 90% of rain water with 80% of TSS removed with underground detention system water use reduced by 77.2%

MATERIALS

total wood is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council on-site construction waste diverted from landfill (2,843 tons) access to thermal comfort controls

BUILDING EFFICIENCY

high performance building envelope

+ high efficiency chillers

+ daylighting controls for perimeter area lighting

+ infrared scans during construction

+ lighting controls

+ occupancy sensors for HVAC (VAV boxes)

= 25% more efficient than ASHRAE 90.1-2004 efficient fixtures for sinks and showerheads

+ dual flush toilets

+ low consumption urinals

= 42% savings in water use

Non-Chemical Water Treatment: South Hall’s chiller plant provides 250 tons of cooling through cooling towers. As cooling towers are open to the atmosphere, they can be susceptible to biological contamination, corrosion, and scaling; so condenser water is typically treated with chemical additives that present potential health and environmental risks.

To avoid such issues and the use of harmful chemicals in this project, we used an electrochemical precipitation (ECP) water treatment system as a method of eliminating the need for oxidizing and non-oxidizing biocides.

While the ECP system drastically reduces water usage at approximately 165,124 gallons per year, it also reduces the introduction of hazardous chemicals into the environment, promotes a safer workplace, and minimizes operating costs.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN LAW SCHOOL

SOUTH HALL