Gerber Center for Student Life

Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois

The Center for Student Life at Augustana has fused learning, dining and play while reinventing the Thomas Tredway Library to create a student hub that supports the College’s commitment to a well-rounded student experience. 

The new dining center creates efficiencies and reduces core costs while providing students with a more enjoyable, contemporary, social dining experience. 

The library has expanded areas for quiet study and improved group study spaces—with new opportunities for social collaboration through a “fused” fourth floor and concourse.

Features
  • Dining Venues
  • Updated Learning Environments
  • Small and Large Gathering/Collaborative Spaces
The Challenge

How do we create a travel corridor from lower to upper campus that helps the College bring visual awareness and access to Student Services on campus without inhibiting the essential function of the Library? 

The Solution

Instead of creating a travel path around the library, a travel corridor was created through the space. Along that path, the design team placed student service offices; creating a pathway for students to experience and begin utilizing the opportunities and activities already happening in the library as well as introducing them to student services.

W. Kent Barnds, Executive VP of External Relations, Augustana College

"This building, with its various parts, provides spaces for study, nourishment, socializing and reflection. The building serves as a symbol of what it means to be a residential liberal arts college. Each day the building brings together people from all disciplines for a variety of functions and purposes and has truly become the campus hub."