Photography courtesy of Steve Dolan
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Saint Louis University cut the ribbon on its new downtown law building in August. Not only does it offer proximity to the Civil Courts Building, it also contains classrooms of varying sizes, a mock courtroom that holds more than 200 people, and interactive whiteboards and pan-tilt cameras for recording oral arguments and trial practice.
“The technology was certainly a focus,” says project principal Michael Schnaare of the Lawrence Group. But when the architecture firm was tasked with making over this 1964 building, the first problem was the lack of light. “It was just so dark,” Schnaare says. “When you think of an inspiring space for students to learn, you’re not going to think, ‘Boy, let’s build a cave.’” It was originally designed to be 16 floors, but construction had stopped at the 11th floor; contractors added a 12th floor and a vertical section with glass walls.
The top is now crowned with an aluminum cornice, made all the more dramatic when lit up “SLU blue.” Initially, there were concerns that the spotlights, neon, and tube lighting would create so much glare on the 12th floor, sunglasses would be required. But the project architect and lighting engineers found a solution. “I was up on the 12th-floor roof deck the first night they turned it on,” Schnaare says. “It was on for 20 minutes before anyone knew they were on.”
