Global Heritage Hall
Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI
An academic centerpiece creates a “campus living room” and supports the university’s global theme
Taking full advantage of a marvelous sloping site, this four-story academic building groups classrooms and other specialized learning spaces around a light-filled atrium, forming an inviting interaction space for the entire campus.
As Goody Clancy’s second building on the Roger Williams campus, Global Heritage Hall is the academic centerpiece of the campus. This four-story academic building, which replaced an outmoded building in the same location, occupies a prominent site facing Mount Hope Bay, and completes the main campus green on the west side with a bold curved façade. It houses teaching facilities and offices for a range of humanities and communications departments that support a global theme.
- The three-story atrium is the campus’s living room, designed to support a range of uses and events. An abstracted map of the world, created with cultural “pixels,” dominates one wall.
- The classroom and office wings frame the atrium and provide informal seating areas for interaction.
- Each of the six Heritage Classrooms is enhanced by art commissioned from local artists and is dedicated to a different heritage: African-American, Latino, Italian, Native American, Portuguese, and Bristolian.
