News
Union South design moves ahead
RUSS COOK/Herald photo
Looking for a print version?
Simply use your browser’s ‘Print’ command and a printer-friendly document will be generated automatically.
Also by Signe Brewster:
- Recession not bad for all (July 18, 2009)
- Doyle signs state budget by deadline (July 3, 2009)
- Legislature passes budget compromise (June 26, 2009)
- Two teens charged in homicide on Southwest side (June 11, 2009)
- Strange man enters dorm rooms of 8 females in Witte Hall (May 7, 2009)
Sharing tools:
E-mail this article:
The Design Committee for the new Union South approved Monday design changes made by the project’s architects.
According to Wisconsin Union Vice President for Project Management Dan Cornelius, design changes were made to the interior floor plan of the building to reflect the input of the Design Committee.
Changes to the main level include an expansion of the coffeehouse, relocation of the ticket booth from the second level, a reconfiguration of the art gallery and the addition of vestibules.
An information commons was added to the second level, and table games from the grill area were removed to make way for additional seating and the rearrangement of a suite that the Wisconsin Union Directorate and other student organizations will occupy.
Other changes include the reorientation of the climbing wall in the basement and the main corridor on the third level, and the addition of an exercise room to the hotel floors.
Design ideas for the food court were addressed at the meeting and relied heavily on a recent visit to a student union at Purdue University, according to Cornelius.
Changes have also been made to the site of the building, which is predominantly composed of a paved space shared with Wendt Library. The changes include a new paving pattern, water features and a turnaround on Orchard Street for hotel drop-offs.
The exterior design of the building has been set since September, and according to Wally Johnson, the project manager from the project’s lead architecture firm, it will likely remain that way through the rest of the process as they begin to decide the details.
“We want to balance human scale with something monumental,” Johnson said.
Thought was also given to aspects of the building, such as environmental friendliness, structural savings and equipment and furniture reuse.
Cornelius said, based on the presentation, only a few small tweaks were requested by the committee for the updated design.
The overall goal is to preserve the atmosphere that Cornelius said the Design Committee has been striving for in producing the new Union South.
“When people enter this building … more than anything we want them to think of a building that is warm and welcoming,” Cornelius said. “That really has influenced every face of our design, from entranceways to the coffeehouse, to the materials on the exterior and now to the materials on the interior. We want people to visit for the first time and keep on coming back because it’s a place they feel welcome in.”
The committee, predominantly comprised of students, plans to begin picking the materials and other elements that will make up the interior of the building in the spring when construction is underway.
The building is scheduled to open in spring 2011. It will be built at the location of the current Union South, and demolition of that building is scheduled to begin next month.
Segregated fees will pay for 58 percent of the project’s $87.7 million price tag at a rate of $96 a semester per student until 2040.
2 Comments | Leave a comment
Leave a comment
Herald Blogs
The Beat Goes On
Muckrakers
President’s Visit Marked a Speech to One of the Last Groups Not Critical of Him
Extra Points
Top Classified Ads (view all)
HOUSES FOR Fall 2010. All houses are on W Dayton or N Bassett. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 bedrooms. All have parking. madisoncampusrentals.com
If any student is opposed to this project, I invite them to visit http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=38116941107 to voice their concerns.
Further, every student is invited and welcome to sign the petition for the postponement of the project until a legitimate consensus can be reached. This petition is found at http://www.petitiononline.com/UWUnion/petition.html
In solidarity, Tyler
I cannot afford this — it is literally the difference between being able to afford to go to school here or not.
Next semester, I am transferring to Whitewater. Good riddance