Vol Walker Hall & the Stephen L. Anderson Design Center

2013
Marlon Blackwell Architect / Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects
Fayetteville, AR

91,000 GSF

Restorations
Education & Libraries

2014
IES New York, Lumen Award of Excellence
IES National, Award of Merit

Vol Walker Hall, a historic landmark on the University of Arkansas campus and home to the Fay Jones School of Architecture, includes the addition of the Steven L. Anderson Design Center. The design center addition was completed in the summer of 2013 and provides new studio, seminar and faculty office space in addition to a 200-seat auditorium and double-height exhibition gallery.

RDG approached the lighting design as a learning experience for design students, introducing the effects of different lighting techniques and sources within their building. Three levels of studio space repeat the same lighting pattern, which is visible from the exterior through the glass façade, identifying the Design Center within the campus.

In the auditorium, separate layers of light can be individually controlled to meet a varying range of lighting needs. For existing historic areas, lighting solutions were incorporated into furniture and display cases to minimize changes to the ceiling and walls. The exhibition rooms feature museum-quality lighting and the double-height gallery incorporates a back-lit, translucent stretched ceiling, which has an adjustable intensity for the various program requirements of the space.