What do you get when you bring together hungry students, the need for social spaces, and a great design? In this case, the answer is the renovation and expansion of Duke University’s landmark West Union.

Now in design, the project will create a social hub with a range of dining options, drawing students and faculty from across the school’s West Campus.

Programming and conceptual design have followed an assessment of the building completed earlier this summer. The project will preserve the West Union’s Collegiate Gothic façade while renovating 52,000 square feet of space and using an interior courtyard to create 52,550 square feet of new space.

The West Union project is preliminarily planned ...[more]

“Collaboration Station,” a feature in the May 2011 issue of University Business magazine, discusses the design of collaborative study spaces in higher education. Ed Gomes of Duke University talks about the Duke Link, the interactive teaching and learning space designed by Shepley Bulfinch which opened in 2008, noting that the project “was about creating an atmosphere in which people can experiment.”

Since the Link opened in 2008 it has attracted significant attention from institutions of higher education and architects across the US. Ed Gomes discussed the Link’s creation in a ...[more]

Four of Shepley Bulfinch’s academic library clients topped the rankings for “Best College Library” in the 2010 Princeton Review survey of students at 373 top US colleges and universities. The four current or recent clients are Harvard (#1); Duke (#2); Princeton (#3), and Colgate (#4). In addition, Furman University, where the firm completed the 2004 LEED Gold Duke Library addition and renovation, was ranked #12.

Rankings were determined by responses from over 122,000 students to the survey question “How do you rate your school’s library facilities?”.

Colgate also came in ...[more]

Picking up where our annual posters left off, we designed and developed a series of bookmark-like cards for our 2010 annual mailing. They feature inspirational quotes on one side and architectural photo details on the other. The cards are die-cut with slots that allow them to interlock for assembly into a basic structure. These cards can also be used individually as bookmarks or pinned up for a daily dose of inspiration. A PDF of the cards can be downloaded here.

The format was inspired by the Eames House of Cards designed by Charles and Ray Eames in 1952. The original 32 interlocking cards featured ...[more]

DURHAM, NC – Duke Law School’s new Star Commons has been recognized for its highly sustainable design and operations, receiving LEED certification from the US Green Building Council. The light-filled Star Commons is highly energy-efficient, with vapor barriers for heat conservation and high-performance glazing. Great care was taken to recycle a high percentage of construction debris from the project, which also emphasized the use of materials low in volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

The 4,000 s.f. Commons was part of a larger addition and renovation project for the law school, which included a renovation of ...[more]

DURHAM, NC – The Winter 2009 edition of Duke Law Magazine makes it clear: Law School faculty, students, staff, and alumni are all reveling in the new J. Michael Goodson Library and Star Commons. In the article, “From Library to Commons” writer Forrest Norman recaps the building’s November 8 dedication, which included a keynote address by US Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. Duke President Richard Brodhead is quoted as saying “When you reach the point where a great law school has a great building, you realize it wasn’t just an ornament. It really is an enabler of things.”

In the words of Duke Law alumnus George Krouse, “The combination of this ...[more]