Greeting The Green

Once hidden away in the concrete block corridors of the Olin Building, Case Western Reserve University’s (CWRU) Department of Computer & Data Sciences now welcomes students and visitors through a more inviting front door. Located on the Case Quad–CWRU’s main campus green and thoroughfare– the building’s entry was tucked around the corner, effectively cutting it off from CWRU’s main thoroughfare.

Drag the slider to see the entry’s transformation.

By reorienting the Olin Building, this renovation has created a new, ground-level entry that welcomes students directly from the quad. Existing stone and small windows were replaced with a large expanse of glass at the entry to bring in daylight and better connect to the quad. Clad in warm wood and black aluminum panels, the new vestibule and cantilevered entry canopy endow the building’s limestone façade with a dynamic, new look. Jutting out above the entrance, the canopy breaks with the square geometry of Olin’s façade as well as the right-angles that structure the quad. Along with the wood, which continues into the building (transformed into ceiling and wall surfaces) the canopy’s angles draw pedestrians into the building.

The new entry opens onto a hub of activity, where students and staff work closely in and out of the classroom. By shifting departmental offices from the ground floor to the eighth and cutting a large opening between the first two floors, the renovation welcomes student and faculty into a space with glass-lined classrooms, computer labs, graduate student offices, and a student lounge. In addition to added transparency and light the renovation makes these floors feel more expansive by stripping away dated finishes and exposing the beautiful waffle slab ceiling of each floor.

Allowing students to survey the activity taking place all around them, transforms the Olin Building’s once cramped, concrete block halls into a sunlit destination where students connect to the life of the department.