The new School of International Service building will incorporate the guiding principles of the SIS program by focusing on ecology, economy and equality, according to representatives from the architectural firms designing the building and overseeing its construction.
The two firms, Quinn Evans and William McDonough, presented the plans to students and faculty Friday afternoon.
"The challenge is how the building can embody the mission and goals of the SIS community," said William McDonough partner Kevin Burke, who presented the new plan.
The presentation highlighted the guiding principles, which were the objectives for construction. The principles were promoting peace, supporting fair labor, harmonizing with the natural world, enhancing human health and providing opportunities for the disenfranchised, all of which reflect the social responsibility and environmental concern taught in the SIS programs.
"I just think it's amazing they're making such an effort to be environmentally friendly," said Rebecca Christopher, a senior in SIS. "They're really stepping up to the values they teach their students."
The heart of the new building will be a glass-enclosed rotunda and atrium. The atrium and rotunda will allow SIS a location to host events and will provide students with a place to meet and study.
The building will also feature a water garden that will collect rainwater, which will then be cleaned and relayed back to storm centers, in an effort to be ecologically friendly. There are also plans for a living roof, which would serve as an acoustical buffer as well as a habitat for native plants and animals, according to McDonough.
McDonough also said that there are plans to extend the Davenport Lounge by making it larger and providing am outdoor caf? where students can sit and eat, and to construct an outdoor terrace overlooking the quad.
SIS Dean Louis Goodman said that the new building benefits both students and the community. He added that the new building will "transform the SIS experience and the experience of AU is a whole."
"It will change the way we function," Goodman said. "We'll all be in the same building."
The current SIS building was designed to house only 400 students, and there are currently 2,500 students in SIS. Goodman said that not only will all students be in one building, but they will have a better atmosphere to learn due to "better room space and better faculty offices."
Goodman hopes that the new building will increase recruitment for SIS.
"It's a tremendous recruiting device...to see something that speaks to the 21st century. We will have more applications and increase the quality of students," he said.
Once complete, the building would become the most environmentally friendly building in Washington D.C. The project is estimated to cost $45 million, which includes construction,
creating parking space and expanding the
library.
Construction is scheduled to start in 2007 and the target move-in date is 2009.
