Studio Gang encases Atlanta academic building in metal screens

American architecture practice Studio Gang has created an academic building at Spelman College in Atlanta encased in red metal screens that pay homage to the bricks of the surrounding campus.

The first new academic building at Spelman College in 25 years, the Mary Schmidt Campbell Center for Innovation & the Arts contains arts and STEM programming for the historically Black women's college.

The 7,660 metre (82,500 square foot) building is square in plan, with a triple-height space that dips into its centre. Studios, labs and galleries for disciplines such as dance, music and photography encircle the central space.

The exterior is encased in metal screens, tinted a dusty red to pay homage to the colour of the local soil and the brick buildings of the surrounding academic buildings, according to Studio Gang.

A long elevated walkway leads to the building's entrance on one side, while the other sides are accessed on ground level.

"The building features a distinctive facade, whose materiality and color draw from regional geology and Spelman's architectural tradition," said the studio.

"Flemish bonded brick, which is seen across the campus and whose color recalls Georgia's red clay soil, is used on the ground level, while flat metal panels on the upper volume give the building a contemporary character that reflects the innovation happening there."

This facade also provides sun protection, with the screens acting as brise soleils "tuned to the angles of the sun".

Ground level is slightly recessed and is covered by the volume of the upper levels. It contains double-height gathering spaces, such as a lobby and theatres, while the upper levels contain smaller classrooms and workspaces.

Some spaces, such as labs, are surrounded by broad windows, while other, quieter classrooms contain clerestory windows.

The central triple-height space, called the Forum, is capped with a wedge-shaped skylight that brings light into the interior of the building and also creates an illuminated, central hub.

Studio Gang organised the interior to foster collaboration across disciplines, according to founder Jeanne Gang.

"The Center for Innovation & the Arts is designed to welcome a mix of people and ideas from across the campus and community," she said. "Flexible spaces for learning and gathering throughout the building make it a place where collaboration can thrive."

The building is the first to be located just outside the college's gates, and faces the neighbouring Morehouse College, a historically Black men's college.

According to Studio Gang, the project is intended to "find synergies" between Spelman College and the surrounding community.

"We wanted the building to create new connections between disciplines, and to help find synergies between Spelman and the broader neighborhood," said Gang.

The studio recently converted a tobacco warehouse into design studios for the University of Kentucky's College of Design and completed a mass-timber academic building in Paris.

The photography is by Tom Harris

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