In October 2007, the Office of the Dean of Arts and Humanities and the Center for the Humanities, in the Literature building, Warren College campus, UCSD, completed a renovation project of 5,000 square feet of office, meeting, and seminar facilities. This included sixteen offices, two large conference/seminar rooms, and one small conference/seminar room. Also included were copy rooms, storage rooms, and kitchen facilities. The design aesthetic, characterized by linear patterns and neutral tones, pays homage to the brutalist modern and postmodern architecture on campus. Contemporary furnishings were provided throughout, and along with branding graphics, were an integral part of the design profile. Project management was a collaboration between the architectural team, campus facilities construction office, campus facilities maintenance office, Dean’s staff, and campus administration. The renovation included technology upgrades, improved adjacencies, and habitability enhancements. The reason for the renovation was twofold: functional and aesthetic. Functional reasons: The layout of the former offices was inefficient and awkward. As an example, the office of the Dean was the first one encountered from the entrance, and the Dean’s executive assistant was located in the opposite corner to the Dean’s office and the entrance. Adjacencies were inefficient as well. Administrative personnel were not adjacent to one another and important file storage was in a less secure common area. An office was needed for a newly-approved position of Director of the Center for the Humanities, and offices were needed for an expanded external relations staff (fundraising and alumni affairs) with appropriate adjacencies. Deficiencies were corrected and new needs provided for in the re-designed offices. Aesthetic reasons: The offices had not been refurbished since the building was constructed approximately 20 years ago; an updated look and new furnishings were needed to revitalize the space. A primary goal was to provide a contemporary design presentation consistent with the leading-edge artistic practice reflected in the Division. A second goal was to present a design that was inspiring to staff members, faculty and administrators, students, and external constituents and donors. Workspace is directly correlated to productivity, and providing a comfortable, efficient, and inspiring space for employees contributes to the goal of operating a first-class Divisional office. Further, the Division had adopted a strategy of more active fundraising development, and space conducive to receiving potential supporters was an important design factor. A third goal was for the contemporary architectural design to incorporate exhibition space for works of arts produced by Visual Arts Department students and faculty, and curated by a PhD Art History, Theory, and Criticism candidate through a faculty-supervised Graduate Student Research (GSR) program. The renovation was an investment in all these efforts.

Project Information

Project Address: 

Literature Building, Warren College Campus, 9500 Gilman Drive, UC San Diego 92093

Project Owner/ Developer: 

University of California, San Diego

Owner Contact Name/ Email: 

UCSD contacts: Michael Downs, Principal Architect (mdowns@ucsd.edu) and Heath Fox, Assistant Dean (hfox@ucsd.edu)

Project Architect/ Designer: 

Jeff Haack and Carey Hultgren, Carrier Johnson (formally with The McCully Group)

Image