SWBR was recognized by the Rochester Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) with a 2015 Merit Award for the State University of New York College at Brockport Liberal Arts Building. The Design Awards encourage excellence in architectural design, to make the public more aware of the potential of the human-made environment and to honor the architect, owner and builder of significant projects.
The College’s three-story, 61,000 square foot Liberal Arts Building formally opened in the fall of 2015 and the team was honored at the annual AIA Rochester Awards ceremony in June, 2015.
“The liberal arts are the bedrock of a Brockport education and virtually every student that enters this institution as a freshman will walk through these doors,” said Brockport President John R. Halstead, PhD. “What they will be taught will prepare them for whatever career path they continue on using skills from critical thinking and communication to creative problem-solving and collaboration. These are the skills that employers say they need. This is what a liberal arts education provides.”
The $29.3 million facility serves as the new home of Brockport’s Departments of English, History, Modern Languages and Cultures, Philosophy, and Women and Gender Studies. Located on the south side of campus, to the east of Drake Memorial Library, the building features a tiered 200-seat auditorium, two 70-seat, divisible classrooms, three 35-seat classrooms, and two 25-seat seminar rooms. It also features a gallery that houses the E.E. Cummings collection, artist-made benches that feature ash wood cleared from the building site, original artwork by regional artists, and exterior balconies.