Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Lewis University Celebrates Groundbreaking for Aviation-Themed Student Center

  • 08/10/17

Lewis UniversityStudents, faculty and administrators at Lewis University celebrated the groundbreaking for a 25,500-square-foot student center designed by Wight & Company.

The new student center is envisioned as a campus hub for students at the university's Romeoville, IL, campus in Chicago's western suburbs. Key components of the multi-level structure will be a 2.5-story glass atrium, dining hall, several outdoor terraces, and student life areas for gaming, recreation, media and club activities.

The design of the new student center pays tribute to the university's heritage in aviation and aeronautics. Lewis University has its own airport on its Romeoville campus and has been recognized as having one of the country's leading collegiate aviation programs. Wight & Company's design incorporate elements such as cables that suspend a vintage plane from the atrium ceiling as a reference to the school's heritage.

Steadily increasing enrollment at Lewis University has driven a significant amount of new building and renovation on the main campus, much of which has been designed and built by Wight & Company. Since 2004, the two organizations have partnered on more than 50 individual expansion and improvement projects.

Wight & Company was chosen to lead this project using its integrated Design & Delivery model, which means that in addition to designing the new student center, the company will serve as construction manager and will provide civil, structural and MEP engineering services. Their architecture team is led by executive vice president/director of design Kevin Havens, who is working with senior project manager Laura Batterberry and Richard Carlson, president of architecture. Scott Richards will serve as construction project manager.

"The student center is the realization of a vision for this campus that has been many years in the making," explains Lewis University's Robert C. DeRose, CPA, MBA, senior vice president for finance & facilities/chief financial officer. Lewis University has announced its plan to name the new building for its recently retired president Brother James Gaffney, FSC, in honor of his 28 years of service to the university.

"This will be Lewis University's first-ever dedicated student center," according to Havens. "We have designed an environment that meets the unique needs of both residential and commuter students and, at the same time, begins to meld those distinct cultures into one."

Wight & Company is targeting LEED certification for the new structure. The project is slated for completion in August 2018.

Featured

  • Kimball International Releases Curated Design Support Program

    Commercial furnishings company Kimball International recently announced the launch of a new end-to-end design support program, DesignSuite. According to a news release, its goal is to guide architecture & design professionals and dealer partners through the process from vision to specification.

  • Ohio State University Opens 26-Story Hospital

    The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center recently opened in Columbus, Ohio, standing 26 stories and covering 1.9 million square feet, according to a university news release. The project marks ten years of effort and is the university’s largest single-facility construction project ever.

  • College of the Desert Hits Construction Milestone on New Campus

    College of the Desert recently announced that the construction of its new Palm Springs Campus in Palm Springs, Calif., recently reached a major construction milestone, according to a news release. The college is partnering with general contractor C.W. Driver Companies, which recently “topped out” the facility by placing the final beam in its structure.

  • University of Arizona Approves New Residence Hall

    The Arizona Board of Regents recently approved plans for a new residence hall at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz., according to a news release. The new facility is scheduled to open in fall 2028 and have the capacity for more than 1,200 students, enforcing a new university expectation that all first-year students live on campus.