Rising on a former parking lot at the north end of this academic quad, the building features three levels, two above grade and one below. The upper level, known as the top plate, shoulders the majority of the programmatic burden and showcases the wonders of modern structural engineering.
Connecting to the second floors of Rand and Sibley halls, the top plate houses the crit and studio spaces and the library. Rather than separating these uses with walls, the architects delineated them with subtle manipulations of the section. The library, for example, sits within a sunken area, while the studio and crit spaces occupy elevations all their own. The entire area is flooded with natural light by perimeter floor-to- ceiling glass walls and a grid of skylights.