This 4-story, 40,000 SF structure consolidates all the components of the College of Charleston’s business school curriculum under one roof. Prior to the construction of the Beatty Center, the program was scattered across the campus and lacked the image that a highly specialized program required for recruitment and identity.

This facility creates that identity, with a subtle allusion to house, piazza, and garden in their most abstracted forms to resonate with the characteristics of a typical Charleston property. The program includes a 4-story central atrium, a large classroom with auditorium seating, additional tiered and standard classrooms, an investment/trading room, multiple breakout rooms, administrative offices, and an open technology kiosk area for students to “plug and play.”

In keeping with the urban fabric of King Street, the “storefront” glazing along Liberty Street extends to the perpendicular fin carrying the building’s name. Proportions, rhythm, and materials have allegiances to the past, yet find a contemporary expression.

 

RECOGNITIONS: ASID and IIDA Carolinas Chapter Awards; AIA-SC Design Award; AIA SAR Award

PHOTOGRAPHER: Bill Struhs