Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, designers of more than forty innovative academic buildings in the US and abroad, have just finished work on a new Student Center for Cleveland State University in downtown Cleveland. Working with firm Braun & Steidl Architects, GSAA has designed a refreshingly contemporary structure that gives a new sense of place to the university–and reconnects the university to the city of Cleveland.

Marking the start of the second phase of CSU’s master plan to reorient its campus, the 138,000-square-foot center enhances the campus’ urban profile. Fronting on Euclid Avenue, downtown’s main commercial thoroughfare, GSAA’s center functions as a public gateway, creating an open link with the surrounding city while offering a wide range of services to students and faculty.

The new facility is dedicated to student activity space, dining and food service, retail and meeting rooms, becoming the focus of community life for the university. At the same time, the new center engages and enlivens its downtown surroundings: visitors entering from the Euclid Avenue side are greeted with verdant lawns and a broad entryway that slopes gently from the street front, a subtle, welcoming touch that also facilitates access for the disabled.