PROJECT DETAILS
LOCATION : Aurora, Illinois
MARKET : Education
AREA : 45,000 SQ FT
Redefining Aurora University
Dunham Hall is a mixed-use building that redefines and strengthens the Aurora University campus aesthetic and provides a new "gateway" for the northwest corner of the campus quadrangle.
This 45,000 SF administration, classroom, and exhibition building closed the final corner of Aurora University's twenty-acre campus quadrangle. A two-story atrium within the building opens toward the quad. This includes a central gallery and exhibition area that provides an assembly and social area for group or informal gatherings.
Dunham Hall is constructed of load-bearing masonry and is detailed with a traditional palette of iron-spot brick, cast-stone banding, red tile roofing, and copper accents. Masonry arches emphasize the passageways through the building to the University's main quadrangle. At a smaller scale, the building’s organization is reflected in such detail elements as wall sconces, masonry reveals, and ornamental cast-stone capitals.
Now more than three decades old, Dunham was our first project at Aurora University. In it, we explored architectural authenticity: True tiled pitched roofs instead of the mansards with pitched roofs that other campus buildings were using; true load-bearing masonry with copper accents, while respecting the University's budget, bring the campus a solid aesthetic with reference to Richardsonian Romanesque. More than thirty years later, Dunham remains solid and functional.
