Commonwealth Architects and design partner The S/L/A/M Collaborative designed the renovation and addition to Hunter-McDaniel Hall at Virginia State University. The client’s goal was to transform an outdated, 106,000 square-foot, academic building into a state of the art facility to house the School of Engineering, Science and Technology’s Departments of Chemistry, Physics, Nursing, Psychology, Math and Computer Science.
Due to challenges of a limited budget and tight timetable, the team carefully coordinated with VSU for a successful outcome. Programming was tailored to fit the existing budget, while construction was accomplished in phases to accommodate the university’s academic schedule. Designing the project to be renovated in phases allowed portions of the building to be occupied during construction while avoiding the need to procure lab swing space. These phasing efforts did more than just save the university time and money; they provided the flexibility the university needed to allow for the renovation.
