ECU Health Sciences Campus Student Center

A collective hub of student activity, resources, andlearning all gathered into one highly innovative student center.

Designed in partnership between Progressive Companies andSteinberg Hart, this state-of-the-art 79,000 square foot student union providesstudents with a variety of collaborative environments and the type ofatmosphere needed to help recruit the next generation of leaders. Thefacility’s programming includes formal meeting spaces, a myriad ofcollaborative studying, gathering, and informal learning spaces, along withadministrative offices, a health clinic, a computer repair shop, a food courtwith coffee shop, a convenience store, a catering kitchen, and a 25,000 squarefoot student recreation center centered around student wellness. The recreationcenter features a full-sized basketball court, strength area, selectorizedequipment, free weight area, locker rooms, cardio deck, meditation space, andmassage chairs.

One of the more interesting aspects of the design is thepromotion of active design principles. The design team worked to make theentire building as open as possible, with all stairs situated to be moreconvenient and experientially rewarding than riding the elevator. Thethree-story glass beacon establishes the center point of a future campusquadrangle.

Dining, campus recreation, and the Student Center all haveseparate operations budgets, so the building was designed with multiple metersfor various utilities, allowing each tenant’s space to be monitored and billedseparately. Progressive Companies led the design team and worked closely withthe Construction Manager at Risk and consultants to deliver as smooth a projectas possible. From design through construction, Progressive Companies managedthe process in a manner that kept the project under budget and on schedule.

The project has received high praise from boththe client and the State Construction Office for outstanding project delivery,with the client calling it one of the smoothest and best-managed projects ontheir campus in many years. Long-time veterans of ECU’s facilities servicesacknowledged they had not been part of a smoother design and constructionprocess during their tenure at ECU.