Knight Hall houses the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. The building was designed to be “Of its Time and Of its Place”: the building blends with the context of its site within a traditional campus while conveying the image of an institution at the forefront of the journalism profession in the 21st Century.
Knight Hall provides a balance of instructional spaces, faculty offices, and professional outreach centers organized around a daylit, two-story Great Hall public space. Instructional spaces include four news labs, two seminar rooms, a 70-seat broadcast theater, a multi-functional studio/editing lab and a 24-hour multi-media open lab space. The third floor houses professional training centers that are epicenters of media study and national advocacy. A variety of public spaces encourage frequent interactions between students, faculty, and journalism professionals. Throughout the building, Knight Hall demonstrates transparency as one of the core fundamentals of journalism by offering views into spaces and revealing their various functions.
The building responds to the University’s master plan by holding the edges of its corner site and creating a courtyard space adjacent to the Great Hall. The interior public spaces become the campus conduit that connects the adjacent parking to the campus core, where visitors can get the news of the day as they make their way on campus.
Built on a former parking lot, Knight Hall embodies the University’s commitment to sustainability, receiving LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council with the distinction of being the first building at the University of Maryland to receive LEED certification. Daylighting and exterior views are provided to nearly all occupied spaces, reinforcing the design principle of transparency.
Grimm + Parker Architects served as the prime architect; Clark Nexsen served as associate architect for the project. Both firms collaborated fully on the design and construction of this award-winning project.
Awards
2011 AIA Potomac Valley Sustainable Honor Award
2011 AIA Potomac Valley Merit Award
2010 AIA Maryland Citation Award