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©Jonathan Hillyer/Atlanta

The Big Picture

A new multipurpose facility fuels the campus master plan at Georgia Military College in Milledgeville, GA.

By Anne Vazquez

Over the past decade, Georgia Military College (GMC) in Milledgeville, GA has undergone significant improvements to its campus facilities. Among these projects is the restoration of its Old Capitol Building, which was the center of Georgia government from 1807 until 1868. Prior to that project was the construction of Zell Miller Hall, an academic facility located across the Old Capitol Parade Ground, a grassy quad which serves as a campus centerpiece. Through these projects runs a common thread of retaining the college’s history while providing students with modernized facilities—all part of a master plan.

Lieutenant Colonel Edward T. Moore, director of facilities engineering at GMC, plays an integral role in master planning for the campus. Since joining the facilities department in 1994, much of his work has centered around the ongoing upgrades at the institution, a junior college and prep school. “When the current GMC president, Major General Peter J. Boylan, arrived in 1992, he developed a master plan for the campus,” explains Moore. “There was a lot of deferred maintenance, and the General implemented a plan to begin renovating the facilities.”

The open, airy atmosphere of the atrium in the NAB encourages students and faculty to socialize, study, or just grab a bite to eat. Photo ©Jonathan Hillyer/Atlanta

The most recent addition to the GMC master plan is the New Academic Building (NAB), a 60,000 square foot, multipurpose facility containing academic spaces, faculty offices, and social areas. Connected to Zell Miller Hall, the NAB has created a complex which has quickly become a centerpiece of campus life since its opening in May 2005.

“Ten Pounds Into A Five Pound Bag”

After the Old Capitol Building restoration was completed in 2000, the NAB was next on the list of campus improvements. The college had several goals for the new building. “First, we needed additional classroom spaces,” says Moore. “Our enrollment continues to grow at both the college and high school levels. We also needed an upgraded auditorium and cafeteria.” Additional elements in the plan were the Academic Dean’s suite, faculty offices, a computer lab, and the campus bookstore.

At the time, the bookstore and snack bar (known as “the canteen”), as well as a small maintenance building, were located in standalone structures on the site of the former Old Capitol Parade Ground. By consolidating these disparate facilities into the new building, the college would be able to restore some green space on these grounds.

The facade of the NAB was designed to complement the Gothic Revival-style architecture found on several signature buildings around the GMC campus. Photo ©Jonathan Hillyer/Atlanta

In 2000, GMC hired the Atlanta office of Lord, Aeck & Sargent, an architectural firm that had done work on the Old Capitol Building. Prior to being hired for the NAB, the firm created a conceptual design for the building, which was then used to secure funding for the project.

Says Moore, “The initial plan was to have two distinct buildings—the existing Zell Miller Hall and the NAB—with an underground corridor to connect them. An open air courtyard would occupy the space between the two buildings.”

That plan changed during the design phase, as the team discussed how all the desired elements would fit into the footprint allotted for the building. “We were trying to fit 10 pounds into a five pound bag,” Moore recalls.

“Then, Joe Greco [AIA, Lord, Aeck & Sargent project design principal in charge and principal designer at the firm] came up with the idea to have an atrium to provide additional space,” continues Moore. “As a result, we decided to connect the new academic wing with Zell Miller Hall via the atrium.” The underground tunnel remained part of the plan.

Says Greco, “It didn’t take too long for us to figure out that to fit all the desired components into the space, we would need to place all the classrooms, labs, and the auditorium—the academic spaces—into the architecturally ‘solid’ wing. In the more open and transparent connector area, we would put the ‘softer’ program space—the cafeteria and student union—and let that functionally and symbolically ‘connect’ the two solid wings.

“We looked at a lot of different options at how the atrium would be resolved and how to express it,” Greco explains. “In the end, the option we went with we believe resulted in the most distinctive and memorable solution. There are clerestories that bring light into the center of the building and below ground to light the interior. Wood timber trusses support the atrium roof, warming the space and giving it an exciting, dramatic feel.”

Today, the atrium space serves as a place for students and faculty to gather, whether it be to eat a meal, to study, or have a conversation. “The atrium is one of the high points of the building,” says Moore. “It gives the campus a focal point, and it provides a place for people to mingle.”

From The Bottom Up

That high point could not be achieved without considering all the building elements from the ground up. For one, the auditorium and cafeteria were placed on the underground level, which freed up space above ground for the classroom and faculty spaces.

The auditorium, which is outfitted with state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment, has given GMC a beautiful space for both campus and community presentations. Photo ©Jonathan Hillyer/Atlanta

However, the team also needed to address some challenges posed by the site. “There’s a great deal of topographic change on the site,” says Greco. “As a result, the NAB is two stories above ground on the two sides facing the Old Capitol Building and football field, and it is three stories on the opposite sides facing the street and parking area.” This sloped construction helped to maximize space.

Since the auditorium would not require natural light, its underground location was ideal. However, bringing this light in the cafeteria was desired, and the atrium design addressed that. “The clerestory lighting in the atrium was used to bring light down to the lower levels in order to reduce the need for artificial lighting in those spaces for much of the day,” says Greco.

©Jonathan Hillyer/Atlanta

Moore adds to this point: “The cafeteria gets lots of that light, which prevents the occupants from feeling like they are in a basement.”

This was part of an overall strategy to incorporate the presence of natural light wherever possible. The faculty offices and classrooms are all located along the perimeter of the building, guaranteeing some level of this light to all of those spaces as well.

While the design team had flexibility in how it would achieve all the goals set for the new building, one element that was not up for debate was its facade on the side facing the Old Capitol Parade Ground. In keeping with the master plan—which includes retaining the school’s history—GMC wanted the building to look similar to the existing Zell Miller Hall and Old Capitol Building.

“In designing the NAB, we took our cue from the Gothic Revival architecture of the Old Capitol Building,” says Greco. “But while we created a structure that is complementary to adjacent architecture, we also designed it to be much more open spatially, with more natural light.”

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