University of Minnesota-Rochester, University Square
Rochester, MinnesotaHGA converted the upper two floors of University Square Mall into a campus for the University of Minnesota Rochester to include classrooms, labs, offices, and student lounges. Offsetting its mall location, the design evokes academic life and sense of community. A wood-paneled wall with glass inlays highlights an open staircase connecting the 3rd and 4th floors. Wall graphics in the corridors and 3rd-floor lounge depict photographic montages of student life, framed by an alternating pattern of wood and opaque-glass wall panels. A skylight brightens the 3rd floor, while a few existing windows add light on the 4th floor. Classic schoolhouse transoms cap interior doors. Patterned carpeting and wood acoustical ceiling panels complete the space.