With one renovation complete and a second one nearly ready to begin, Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects is giving the campus and its students a fresh perspective on collaboration and education.
Just outside the Baltimore-Washington Metropolis Area is a campus brimming with ideas. It’s where recent high school graduates build up transfer credits for four-year institutions, adults work toward new career goals, and older learners keep their skills fresh as they connect with their neighbors.
In 1957, Frederick Community College (FCC) in Maryland launched with just 77 students. It has since grown to one of the largest community colleges in the state. Today, about 30 percent of enrollments are for first-generation college students, and programs in STEM and cybersecurity are among the top five areas of study at the school.
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But in the ever-competitive field of higher education, the college wanted to do more. It called on Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects to bring two buildings up to date with modern renovations that focused on giving their unique student body opportunities to collaborate and learn.
“Community colleges have a lot of competition. Making sure they can stay modern and provide the type of spaces that will attract students is really important for their continued success,” says Lauren Myatt, Principal, licensed Architect and the Project Manager. “We wanted to help create a campus where students, faculty, and other visitors come and feel welcomed.”
Updating Building E
While not particularly old, Building E on the FCC campus was feeling a bit dated. Built in the 1990s, the college had outgrown the spaces, and it was no longer serving them in the best way.
The 28,000-square-foot interior renovation included updating office space, housing the adult education and workforce development programs, and creating general classroom space. A former conference center on campus, with six different conference rooms, allowed for plenty of space that could be subdivided into newer rooms.
A life skills classroom and a lecture hall also were updated to better meet instructional needs, with a more modern aesthetic and added technology.
“We wanted to create something that worked with the college’s overall mission of creating really state-of-the art educational spaces,” Myatt says.
Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects also put a lot of thought into the way students would move about and gather within the spaces. As a commuter campus, having space to study, collaborate, or decompress between engagements is important.
New wood paneling in the lobby creates a sense of warmth, while a glass front provides views of the campus quad and is an inviting scene for those inside the building. It needed to feel welcoming to multiple generations of learners, Myatt says. Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects accomplished that, and faculty and students started using the building in fall 2020.
New life to Annapolis Hall
Built in the 1970s but touting major renovations in the 1990s was the administrative building known as Annapolis Hall. It has several offices dedicated to student services, while also housing the President’s suite, the main campus board room, the FCC Foundation Offices, the college’s marketing department, and facilities and operations.
With the budget in mind, Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects worked on giving FCC a set of comprehensive upgrades while reusing what they could. There are virtually no structural changes required for the proposed building renovation, Myatt says. Architects worked with existing column locations, highlighting them in some areas where they couldn’t be removed. They also worked with existing private office locations where they could remain as-is.
This design approach opened up opportunities to maximize the value of the renovations and bring bigger visions of student engagement in the spaces to life. This was done by carving out nooks and seating areas for students to gather. M&D also gave different departments more identity with new entrances.
With the design set to be complete in the spring of 2021 and construction to begin in summer, the pieces are falling in place for Frederick Community College to have a refreshed identity with which to welcome students back to campus.
The memorial’s groundbreaking took place in June, and the dedication is set to take place on November 11, 2024, or Veterans Day.