1997 AIA Vermont Excellence in Architecture Award

The new Learning Center at Johnson State College is a state of the art facility, housing a computer lab, media center, faculty offices for two departments, classrooms, and a library with reading spaces and stack space for 130,000 books and 700 periodicals. The building frames the quadrangle and serves as a gateway to the campus from the commuter parking lot to the west. It offers panoramic views of the Green Mountains to the South. Because the building's social activity centers face the quad, and large areas of the facade are glazed, there exists a dynamic relationship between outside and in. Reading spaces, stairways, the bridge which connects to Bentley Hall, and the "theater" of steps outside by the main entry, all encourage interaction. In the evening the building is lit up, inviting one inside. There are three layers of study spaces, clearly connected, but each with a distinctive character suggesting different kinds of scholarly activity.