Withers Hall, originally built in 1939 as the University's chemistry building, provided 70,000 gross square feet originally dedicated to classrooms, offices, and laboratory space for the departments of Chemistry, Computer Science, and Physics. With these departments moving to the new Centennial Campus, the University determined Withers Hall would become the home to three departments of College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHASS) - Foreign Languages & Literatures, History, and Philosophy & Religion.
The existing structure of Withers Hall provided a sturdy shell within which to create the home for the three CHASS departments. The building itself remained relatively unchanged as viewed from the exterior. The buildingÕs location within the proximity of other CHASS buildings creates a western front door for the College.
The University Master Plan's projected location of an All Campus Path along the north side of the building created the need for a prominent, accessible new main entry on the north side of Withers Hall, while the ceremonial entry remained at the west.
Both the departments and the College as a whole desired a sense of community. The renovation included student commons areas, classrooms, offices, and departmental offices for the three CHASS departments. The building concept has been developed to provide more public, student-use areas on the lower levels and more private, faculty-use areas on the upper levels. The College's desire to integrate these two keeps with its vision. The requested space allocation by each department also works well with the building's existing structure. The departments are distributed laterally through the building so that several departments are represented on each floor. Similarly, within any one department the spaces are stacked in the building.
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