| Bar Bulletin |
February, 2003 |
|
|
SCHOOL OF LAW FACULTY AND STUDENTS
SETTLE INTO NEW HOME
By Nancy Zibron
Now that the dust
has settled, University of Maryland School of Law faculty, students and
staff are also settling into their new home, the Nathan Patz Law Center at
500 West Baltimore Street in downtown Baltimore. Constructed on the site
of the school’s previous building, the facility was officially dedicated
in September of last year. The law school community occupied temporary
quarters on the University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB) campus during the
three-year construction period.
Dean Karen
Rothenberg says that construction of the new building was “a
transformative moment in School
of Law’s
institutional life.”
“We designed a
facility that is allowing us to shape our curriculum to provide the best
legal education for the 21st century,”
Rothenberg adds. “Our new school was planned to foster innovative learning
and to promote a sense of community for our students, faculty and staff.”
The new building is
nearly double the space of Lane Hall, the previous facility on the
Baltimore Street site. It was designed with the architecture of historic
Westminster Hall, the 1852 English Gothic church that shares the block and
is used as meeting space by the school, as a reference point. Constructed
of brick and pre-cast stone, the design of the new school evokes dignity,
strength and tradition – the tenets of academia – while avoiding the
sterility often unavoidable in institutional structures.
The $54 million
project was financed with a combination of public and private funds. The
State of
Maryland
provided the initial allocation to begin construction of the building, but
in what Rothenberg calls “a remarkable public/private partnership,” donors
to the project provided the funds that make the building distinctive. The
extensive use of cherry wainscoting and paneling, a granite circulation
desk in the Thurgood Marshall Law Library and a beautiful courtyard and
fountain were all made possible by the generosity of law school donors.
“What strikes me
about the building is the integration of beauty and functionality,” says
Richard Boldt, Associate Dean and a professor of law. “We are able to do
our work in an environment that not only facilitates legal education, but
also, through its design, provides subtle messages of the importance of
our undertaking.”
The building design
incorporates exceptionally high standards of accessibility and
state-of-the-art technology. Large numbers of automatic door openers,
extra-wide aisles, audio-reinforced listening devices, non-directional
carpeting and ramps meant to be used by everyone – not just those using
wheelchairs – are just a few of the features that create an environment
allowing access with dignity. Accessibility options, in fact, exceed what
is mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The school is also
the most wired, connected facility on the UMB campus. Every seat in every
classroom is wired for power and an Internet connection. Document cameras
that project either flat or three-dimensional objects onto screens have
replaced outdated overhead projectors. Classrooms and conference rooms,
equipped with the latest in audiovisual and presentation technology,
provide easy access to videotaping, networking and distance learning.
The new School of
Law facility is proving to be everything that its inhabitants had hoped
for – an architectural achievement that fosters learning, scholarship and
collegiality among everyone who uses it.
|
