Defining the edge of Middlesex College, this new Student Center is emblematic of the college’s future direction and growth. With a clear formal logic, it creates not only a rational organization of discreet functions, it also finds opportunities for compelling public spaces that stitch together campus life and the community at large. Its sleek yet simple contemporary façade captures this moment in the college’s history, it’s a moment of expansion and engagement.
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Global Future Design Awards 2025
Middlesex College Student Center
Educational Architecture (Under Construction)
Firm
AECOM (New York Metro)
Architect/Designer
Francis W Cooke
Design Team
AECOM
Location
United States
Country
United States
Photographer/Copyright
©AECOM
Website
https://aecom.com/
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/aecom/?hl=en
Facebook
N/A
Whatsapp
N/A
Located at the corner of the campus’s historic quad, it forms a connection between the school’s history and new outlook. In this location, it both strengthens existing campus circulation patterns and forms the terminus for a new “campus spine” that will create greater pedestrian circulation bridging the campus and the athletic fields to the south. The building sits a new and important nexus in the developing campus masterplan.
Programmatically, the building presented a challenging problem as it needed to house not only the culinary arts program for the college but also student game rooms and lounges in addition to more private student services spaces. The sports bar/café and outdoor terrace provided the programmatic link. They are student and public facing, social functions that are directly supported by the work of the culinary arts program. With the addition of these new program components, the building will work as a unified whole.
The legibility of distinct parts within a whole became the driver for the articulation of the façade. The mass of the building is dictated with a strong horizontal metal “brow” which unifies the different expressions beneath it. The different program uses have distinct cladding below the brow: glass, vertical fins, and metal panels that provide clarity of the building’s uses. The finish for these areas consists of a color shifting, iridescent coating that changes color between green (the color of the county) and blue (the color of the college) depending on what angle they are seen from. This phenomenon expresses the deepening connection between county and college. The relationship between the county and college is evolving and positive. In its design, the student center captures this moment, both functionally and symbolically. Once operational, this building will create new connections, foster new relationships and become a key destination for the community.
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