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press release Campus Center Project Underway at Stockton; Largest Single Building Project in History of the College Groundbreaking Marks New Era for Galloway Twp. Campus
By Tim Kelly
“The Campus Center will provide a focal point for the campus, a gathering point for students, faculty, staff and visitors, and begins the transformation of our campus,” said President Herman J. Saatkamp, Jr. Project Architects KSS Architects, LLP of Princeton, in association with design firm, VMDO Architects, of Charlottesville, Virginia, worked in concert with Dr. Saatkamp, Stockton’s administration and facilities personnel and with student input to design a building key to the College’s 10-year Facilities Master Plan. The Center will provide one-stop shopping for many campus services and will free other parts of the existing facilities to house much-needed classroom and office space. “The Campus Center helps to alleviate our immediate shortage of space and serves as the first component to our long-range plans to expand and meet the demand of the growing Southern New Jersey region,” Dr. Saatkamp added. The Campus Center groundbreaking is part of a celebration that includes a separate groundbreaking for renovation of the Elizabeth Alton Auditorium and a ribbon-cutting to mark completion of the Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) system to assist in the heating and cooling of campus buildings in an environmentally friendly manner. It is the Campus Center project that represents the largest portion of ongoing construction projects with a total that is anticipated to exceed $150 million in construction value. These projects include but are not limited to the ATES system and the Alton Auditorium projects, which collectively contribute toward the advancement of Stockton’s 10-year Facilities Master Plan. The master plan details are available on the College Web site at www.stockton.edu. Stockton Board of Trustees members will be on hand for the groundbreaking and ribbon-cutting events along with Dr. Saatkamp and Allan Kehrt, a KSS founding partner and Andrew Tucker, associate with the firm and manager of the project. Michael C. Shatken, partner in charge for the project and a founding KSS partner said: “It is a pleasure working with Stockton. The new Campus Center will lead the College in a new direction by providing an engaging social center right at the heart of the campus.” The Campus Center will feature meeting spaces, dining facilities, a bookstore, Wi-Fi and retail destinations. The building will nestle in Stockton’s existing campus footprint and will reflect the College commitment to the environment and specifically its location within the New Jersey Pine Barrens. It will work in concert with the ATES and geothermal energy systems, and the College will seek the coveted “Gold” certification through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. The design incorporates organic, nature-inspired design elements including soaring columns topped by outstretched trusses reminiscent of tree limbs, and drop-ceiling canopies of wood panels to compliment glass and steel building materials. “The architects’ have assembled a good team to deliver the answers to our needs, and they have done a good job in integrating sustainability into this project in a cost-effective manner,” said Donald Moore, Executive Director of Facilities Planning and Plant Management at Stockton. “The building will be a unique centerpiece to the campus.”
VMDO Architects was founded in 1976 and is the youngest firm to receive the T. David Fitz-Gibbon Virginia Architecture Award, the most prestigious honor given by the Virginia Society of American Institute of Architects. For further information, interview, and photography opportunities in reference to this project and VMDO Architects, please contact William Bishop at 434.296.5684, email at bishop@vmdo.com. |
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