Project completes first-floor plan

The idea for the East Commons began four years ago and took a couple turns in the process before arriving at its present form.

"A week after West Commons opened, Jean-Lou Chameau, [former provost and vice president for Academic Affairs], said to do another iteration," said Crit Stuart, associate director for Public Services, Tech Library and Information Center.

The reason West Commons was constructed was due to the plans for the Innovative Learning Resource Center (ILRC).

"The ILRC will be a 24-7-365 space for freshmen. The Office of Information Technology (OIT) would also have offices in the building, along with Anderson Smith, vice provost and vice president for Academic Affairs," Stuart said.

The West Commons project broke new ground for several aspects of the library.

"West Commons was the Dean of Libraries saying that if we can afford it, bring in computers to create a workspace for students. The West Commons was a breakthrough for the Library and OIT. Before the West Commons, the two had not worked together on a project," Stuart said.

The initial plan was to have the second iteration of the common space to be up a floor from the west commons.

"In fall 2002, we did a plan for 2nd floor west and got it ready for bid. At that time, [Tech] hit a financial wall. A year later, we worked with Steel Case. We had bought West Commons from Steel Case. We worked with [Steel Case] to find out what the 2nd floor west would look like," Stuart said.

According to Stuart, [2nd floor west] would be all about groups, whereas, the 1st floor was all about the individual. "During a study conducted in Oct. 2003, we looked at the seven most popular study places on campus. We took pictures of the places and of the tables and chairs in those places. We talked with students about why they chose to study at that place and compiled a list of reasons. The reasons were in terms of least negative and not in terms of positive," Stuart said.

Floor plans were created for the second flood of West Commons, but the project is not being fully funded since the two current buildings should be comprehensively renovated in concurrent to the construction of the ILRC.

The project took a turn a year later that caused the project to come into its current form. "In the fall 2004, a group of students came asking to be involved in the planning and decision making of a new group work space in the library. They formed a student advisory council, which was an eight person council of student leaders," Stuart said.

According to Stuart, in March, a new plan developed for the East Commons. "[The council] conducted a series of intense interviews with students in focus groups. Everything in the East Commons came out of the focus groups," Stuart said.

The main theme is refreshment for mind and body. "We understood that the East Commons had to have comfortable amenities. It needed good light and a view," Stuart said.

Another aspect of the East Commons is the presentation space."Students wanted to be able to see the great stuff that is done on campus...We created a space where a presentation arena can be and then disappear once the event is over," Stuart said.

The East Commons creates a meeting area where students and faculty can come together to discuss things. "The students wanted to be able to know the faculty as humans, not just as talking heads in a classroom. Jazzman's was created to have a coffee house effect where students could meet with professors informally," Stuart said.

The East Commons is only a step in a continuing process. "This is just page one chapter one. It's a start," Stuart said.