University of Arkansas Steven L. Anderson Design Center
The addition of the Steven L. Anderson Design Center to Vol Walker Hall at the University of Arkansas is a complex but resolute hybrid of a beautifully restored historical building and a modern addition and insertion. Great care has been taken in preserving the historic aspects of Vol Walker Hall, while instilling new life. The addition provides 37,000 square feet of new studio, faculty office, and seminar space as well as a 200 seat auditorium and an exhibition gallery. The Anderson Design Center’s expansive roof terrace is both a green roof and a covered outdoor classroom and event space; the elevated vantage point affords dramatic views over the surrounding campus, city, and landscape. Articulated in Indiana limestone, architectural concrete, and fritted glass, the addition seeks to complement the original building built in the 1930s while representing the School of Architecture’s vision for the future.
LOCATION / Fayetteville, Arkansas
BUILDING TYPE / New Construction + Renovation
BUILDING SIZE / 102,000 GSF
COMPLETION DATE / July 2013
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH / Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects
AWARDS /
+ LEED Gold Certification
+ AIA/CAE Educational Facility Design Award of Excellence [2016]
+ American Architecture Prize [Educational Buildings, Platinum] [2016]
+ ASID South Central Chapter Commercial Design Project of the Year [Ovation] [2015]
+ ASID South Central Chapter Excellence in Design Award [Gold] [2015]
+ Gulf States Regional AIA Honor Award [2014]
+ AZ Award: Best Commercial/Institutional Architecture > 1,000 Square Meters [2014]
+ World Architecture Festival Finalist [Higher Education and Research] [2014]
+ Architects Newspaper Building of the Year [2014]
+ Lumen Award for Excellence [2014]
+ Arkansas AIA Honor Award [2014]
+ Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture Award [2014]
+ Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce Contractors Construction & Developers Appreciation Vision Award [2013]
+ AIA Technology in Architectural Practice Building Information Modeling Award for Exemplary use of BIM in a Small Firm [2012]
