College Center at Vassar College - Poughkeepsie, NY

The historic landmark building, known as “Main,” was designed by James Renwick, and completed in 1865.  Originally this building housed all of the schools functions, but as the campus grew over the years, the purpose of the building changed, and by the early 1970’s, an addition to Main was much needed.  Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson, and Abbott expanded the building with an AIA award winning addition known as “College Center”.

After thirty years of continuously changing needs, and the wear of time, College Center was due for a remodeling of it’s own.  Sloan Architects rose to this challenge with an approach that increased and reconnected student activities within the building, as well as reorganized various program functions to maximize interior space.  The “glass cubes”, located at the new Barnes & Nobles managed bookstore entry, stand apart from the existing building to clearly mark the new entry to the bookstore and to serve as a welcoming gateway to the this Student Union hub. To link the glass cubes with the existing College Center building, a bridge was designed as the connector between the old and new.