Treanor Student Life

Frankie Minor, University of Missouri-Columbia; Randy Alexander, University of Arkansas; Diana Robertson, University of Kansas; and Nadia Zhiri of Treanor Architects gave a presentation at ACUHO-I's Annual Conference in Austin, Texas.

Many campuses have mid-century residence halls built in the 1950’s and 60’s and are challenged with updating or renovating them to meet the dramatically different philosophies and programmatic goals of current residential life professional as well as the expectations of today’s, and tomorrow’s, college students. Demolishing these facilities and replacing them with new is frequently prohibitive. However, with solid structural integrity, there is real ...

In April 2010, Treanor Architects surveyed college and university chief administrators, financial officers, facilities professionals, student housing officers, and student affairs representatives on topics relating to student life facility challenges. The results are in! Click the above pdf to download. Thank you to all participants for taking time to provide this information.

It’s a question that comes up on most campuses. How do we create a modern, sustainable living environment within the confines of the spaces we currently have available?
Whether your student life facilities date back to 1960 or 1890, transforming them into high-performance buildings – ones that meet student expectations, accommodate desired programming, consume less energy, employ green design elements and are cost-effective to build and operate — isn’t a pipe dream. Successful renovation projects on a number of campuses are proving that, with the right approach, it can be done. Here’s how:

On many campuses, the answer is yes. But a careful evaluation of your facilities means weighing a number of competing factors. Consider the following questions before green-lighting a demolition:

Programming. Is the building design truly capable of serving the desired programming and occupancy, now and into the future? Once it’s renovated, will your new building be flexible enough to be redesigned to meet new program needs 40 or 50 years down the road?

Structure. Is this building structurally sound enough to last? Are there significant structural or space limitations? If you can’t save the building, can you salvage ...

LAWRENCE, KS – Campus safety and security continues to be an important issue on every campus today. But it's not just about adding new access technologies and safety policies. From planning to building design to landscaping, there are a variety of factors that can impact the actual safety— and how secure students feel— on campus. Many of them have to do with how your campus— and the residences on it— are designed.

Treanor Architects, experts in designing living and learning environments for students, advises examining these key areas:

A safe master plan ...

At a Friday, May 7 public meeting on the Benedictine College campus, Denton Nichols and Dick Tilghman of Treanor Architects and Joel Grimmet along with Pat Willoughby from JE Dunn construction, described details of the new Academic Center. The 57,000 square foot, 85 foot high building will break ground on June 11. After years of record enrollment, new academic space is very much needed. As Nichols described it, this will truly be the signature building on campus, "quoting" architecturally from the Mount, Abbey and newer campus buildings, which he studied and got to know and love.

As they watched the ceremonial shovels slicing into the soil outside the east entrance of the building, most people watching the Memorial Union renovation groundbreaking had their minds on the future.

Specifically, about two years from now.

That's when the project to renovate and expand what's known as the living room of Emporia State University will be complete.

Representatives from local, state and federal government and the Kansas Board of Regents joined ESU president Dr. Michael R. Lane on the stage at the Friday, April 16 groundbreaking.

"We're looking forward to this will provide our students," Lane ...

LAWRENCE, KS – It's a question that's increasingly being asked on campuses all across the country. The desire to use existing buildings effectively is strong, and on many campuses, the answer is yes, we can make an aging building work for today's changing needs.

Yet colleges and universities that are looking to build high-performance buildings— ones that are cost-effective to build and operate, that incorporate desirable green building elements, and that will serve the needs of their students now and for years to come— must weigh ...

A Survey on Student Life Facility Challenges

Treanor Architects is conducting this brief survey to better understand the challenges today’s campuses face in providing facilities that contribute to a strong quality of life for their students.

Offer your valuable insight and perspective before April 26, 2010. We will send results to those who took the survey.

Complete the survey by clicking the article link below.

LAWRENCE, KS – Every few years, the lifestyle needs of college students begin to shift. Keeping up can be a constant battle. Yet in a climate where students are sophisticated consumers, campuses that don’t make adjustments to their residence halls are going to be left behind.

One of the biggest campus living trends to watch, according to Treanor Architects, experts in planning and designing student life facilities, is the integration of the community learning center into students’ living environment. This highly technological fusion ...