OU Site Plan Diagram

Site Plan

HCOM Floor Plans

Circulation Diagram

Natural Light Diagrammatic Plans

A vibrant, daylit facility throughout the day, transforms into a glowing beacon of activity at night.

Heritage Hall creates a clearly legible and inviting entrance for members of the Athens Community.

The building spaces themselves, and their organization, are designed to prioritize wellness. This includes an infusion of natural light to all spaces and a visible connection to nature and the outdoors.

Heritage Hall was carefully sited to seed a new “Union Green” on the Northwest edge of the campus. This was an important step in creating a critical mass and spurring future development of the new Green, enhancing the campus experience.

The on-site café offers healthy food and drink options to refuel and recharge, and opportunities to study or socialize. The space also utilized reclaimed bricks from the demolished Factory 9 building, as well as a community table made from one of the trees that had to removed to make way for this new home for the medical school.

Faculty and Administrative offices were dispersed throughout the building to encourage movement, cross-pollination and chance encounters and interactions, and windows were given to the shared spaces rather than individual people. The second floor public pathway is a continuous 1/8 mile “walking path” that staff and students alike are using intentionally rather than just a means to get somewhere.

On site amenities like a fitness and mindfulness room that can serve as a yoga room, quiet reflection or prayer room, were really important project drivers and success factors for students, to provide various types of opportunities to decompress or work out the stress, and to provide different options to meet the needs of the students, faculty, and staff.

The classrooms are flexible for multi-use, highly visible and distributed throughout, activating the building with vitality and encouraging movement. Views to the outdoors that ground students in the time of day, and technology that connects them to the other two campuses seamlessly.

The Atrium is the heart of the building and not only brings in an abundance of natural light and offers views to the outdoors, but also connects all 3 floors – visually and physically, as well as offering flexible opportunities for program and community events with the movable glass walls that open up the first floor Active Learning Classrooms

View looking up at the diagrid ceiling that acts as a great entry point for an abundance of natural light

Like Osteopathic medicine, we took a holistic approach to this project and looked at wellness through multiple lenses. From WELL Certification, to the Pathways to Health and Wellness Academic Curriculum that evolved along-side the building design, thoughtful use of the pathways between the program space, and intentional areas beyond the classroom to study, reflect, nourish, socialize and decompress. All in support of creating a physically and mentally healthier environment for students, faculty and staff.

The east facade of the building that anchors the new University Green.

(C) Mark Herboth Photography

(C) Mark Herboth Photography

(C) Mark Herboth Photography