Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

University of Minnesota, Mankato: The Connection

  • 04/01/17
University of Minnesota, Mankato

PHOTOS © LEO A DALY

The Connection at the University of Minnesota, Mankato (MSUM) solves a delicate campus planning challenge with two solutions in one — an underground pedestrian link crossing the campus mall, and an outdoor amphitheater/classroom that enhances student life.

Considered the heart of the campus, MSUM’s mall bustles with activity throughout the year. Connecting the student union, library and several classroom buildings, its robust program of sculptures and public spaces provide a gathering place for students that is welcoming, functional and artistic.

The university wanted to provide an ADA-compliant indoor passage for students crossing the mall from the library to the student union during the brutal Minnesota winters without introducing a disruptive element to the mall’s open, energetic design.

LEO A DALY responded by designing a pedestrian link that is integrated into the existing campus and becomes a key element to the campus mall: a “tunnel” with one side exposed to an amphitheater cut into the existing grade. In cold weather, a 33-foot expanse of curtain wall fills the indoor passageway with natural light. In nice weather, that same curtain wall plays backdrop to outdoor student performances, classes and movie nights.

Within the Connection, the east wall slopes back at 35 degrees from vertical. It is composed of shotcrete on top of excavated soil, waterproofing and a 3-inch-deep steel ribbed roof deck backfilled with concrete. This angled wall provides an efficient and compact structure for earth retainage, and made possible smaller and therefore less expensive footings as well as minimal disruption to the mall’s existing plantings and walking surfaces. In addition to being a structural element in the wall design, the roof decking served as a framework for the cast-in-place concrete (a project requirement). This minimized the need for supports and rented formwork and enabled construction to meet an aggressive schedule.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Chartwells Launches Campus Dining Evaluation Framework

    Contract food-service management provider Chartwells Higher Education recently announced the launch of BLUEPRINT, according to a news release. The evaluation framework was designed to provide a data-driven and customizable roadmap towards optimizing campus dining services and, by extension, the student experience.

  • school building with glowing circuit board patterns

    AI Is Coming to Schools — But Most School Buildings Still Run on Institutional Memory

    As school districts race to introduce AI into classrooms, administration, and curriculum planning, another conversation is happening behind the scenes: How prepared are school facilities themselves for the operational demands AI will create?

  • Rethinking K-12 Schools as a Continuous Learning Experience

    Most students move through three or more separate facilities during their K-12 journey, yet the built environments they encounter at each stage have traditionally been designed in isolation, with little continuity in spatial language, learning philosophy, or physical resources. Each new school is a reset with different layouts, learning models, expectations, and ways of moving through a building. The next generation of school design is making the case that the first day of kindergarten and the last day of high school can and should feel connected through common support systems and infrastructure in the physical environment.

  • Minnesota District Converts Middle School into Community Hub

    White Bear Lake Area Schools in White Bear Lake, Minn., recently announced the end of a major renovation project that converted a former middle school into a new centralized district and community hub, according to a news release.