This building is more than just a container for brilliant and enquiring minds. It represents social ideas, intellectual quest and a sense of community. To reflect this, the Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing is made up of three interconnected layers. The first layer is the common ground, a public place imagined as a garden. Above the common ground is the intellectual commons, where diverse disciplines come together and where large groups can discuss and debate in an ‘open source’ forum. The top layer is the academic hive, a high intensity dynamic place of cross pollination and focused work, connected to the commons below.
The building has been conceived as an agile framework that will be brought to life by the evolution of the College of Computing, built around the light-filled atrium that connects every part of the building. It is designed to welcome even the most sceptical of visitors, making everyone feel at home, because when people feel at ease and stimulated by their environment, they do their very best work.
