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With the opening of the University of Denver’s new environmentally-friendly College of Law on the east side of Driscoll lawn this fall, all of DU’s students are united on the same campus for the first time since 1944.
“It’s so much fun to be together,” said Chancellor Ritchie during the open house on Friday.
The plans for the law school brought together architects from across Denver to create a building that met the standards of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design as well as the standards of the law students themselves, according to Mark Rodgers, DU’s architect.
“We know what makes a great academic building,” said Rodgers. “But we didn’t know what makes a great academic law building.”
So the university teamed up with architects from H&L Architecture and the firm of Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson, and Abbott, both firms who had a reputation for building successful law schools in the past.
H&L and Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson, and Abbott collaborated on a $63.5 million building that houses case rooms designed to allow the students to see each other and the teacher; study rooms that inspire students to learn; and a centrally-located law library with a staircase winding through the heart of the building.
The architects wanted to build a library that would be inviting to students, said Michael Ossian, principal of H+L Architecture.
“We planned it to be a fishbowl,” said Ossian. “We wanted it to be one of the best places to be in.”
In addition to planning an environment conducive to study and community, the architect’s agenda included making the building “green.” This plan meant that the architects had to meet several LEED criteria for energy efficiency, air pollution, recycled materials and longevity.
For example, the copper that adorns the roof of the College of Law and a number of other buildings on campus is 80% recycled and 100% recyclable, according to Rodgers.
One final aspect that the architects had to consider when planning the building was the location, said Rodgers. He explained that the reason behind putting a building so large in the middle of campus was to promote community.
“[Ritchie] wanted the Law School to be intertwined with the rest of the school,” Rodgers said.
The Driscoll lawn is the civic heart of what goes on in the DU community, he said, and Ritchie wanted the building in close proximity with the rest of the school. The architects, along with Ritchie, are working to create the feeling of a town square on Driscoll lawn according to Rodgers.
“It will be a place where things happen, where people cross paths and come into contact,” said Rodgers.
Most of all, Ritchie said that he wants DU to be a unified community, for the first time in 60 years.
“Reach out, get to know each other, find things to do with each other,” said Ritchie. “Make a special effort to meet your colleagues.”
