Campus gets pedestrian friendly.

Goshow Architects provided full design and construction support services for the renovation of the Tabler Cafeteria at the State University of New York Stony Brook, NY campus into a new Student Center for the College of Arts, Culture and Humanities.

Prior to the renovation and adaptive re-use of the 27,600 s/f, two- tory structure, the cafeteria building had been closed and not utilized for nearly 20 years.

"Recycling buildings that had originally been built in the 1960's and 1970's is a growing trend on college campuses. With all of today's fast food options, massive cafeteria buildings have become white elephants sitting in the middle of campuses across the country. Originally designed in the brutalist-style, these outdated buildings were created for automobile oriented campuses. The design emphasis of today's campuses, however, is to create more pedestrian friendly communities in order to attract and retain students. Multi-use student centers and the campus quadrangle like the one we created at SUNY Stony Brook are important building blocks to these new academic communities," according to Eric Goshow, partner of Goshow Architects.

The new Student Center provides a focal point for study, experimentation and interaction of freshman and returning students whose academic careers include the study of Arts, Culture and Humanities.

The cafeteria was renovated into a multi-use facility that features digital arts and print media studios, a 250 seat multi-use performance space, and provisions for satellite television and radio studios. Additional facilities include a conference room, offices, music practice rooms and a 50 person digital multimedia room. An art gallery / circulation space provides access through the upper level to grand staircases that lead to the lower level and a cafe style food service facility with seating for up to 200 people. The lower level also includes a moveable glass wall that opens to a patio area. The $3.5M project also included handicapped accessibility, integration of the latest digital technologies and upgrades and replacements of building mechanical and electrical systems.