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Burlington can be justifiably proud of a new building that officially became part of the cityscape last summer: the Dudley H. Davis Center, the University of Vermont’s new student union. The building is named for the late Dudley H. Davis, UVM class of 1943, whose family and friends donated $7 million to the 186,000 sq. ft., $61 million building.
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The Dudley H. Davis |
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A central feature of the UVM transformation university leaders imagined in a highly publicized vision statement in 2003 … the Davis Center has more than fulfilled its promise. As any casual visitor to the building will notice, the Davis Center is almost always packed with students – socializing, studying, shopping, meeting with their professors, eating, or tuning in to a guest lecturer. Not only does the building draw students to it, functioning as the campus hub UVM has never had – it also brings the campus together, uniting the university’s residential and academic sectors. For those of you who wonder what goes on inside the walls of that large brick building on Main Street, here are some answers: The Davis Center is home to a variety of student organizations, from the school newspaper, The Cynic, to the university’s radio station, WRUV … the Department of Student Life … the UVM bookstore … a wide variety of dining options … a student-run store featuring local Vermont products … and a large number of meeting rooms, including a student game room and two fourth floor grande ballrooms. But the Davis Center is more than simply an attractive building that’s serving its purpose well. It is also a model of green design. In spite of its impressive size, the Davis Center’s environmental footprint has been greatly reduced through a start-to-finish commitment to creative green design. In February, these efforts were recognized when the Davis Center became the first student union in the country to receive the LEED® Gold designation from the U.S. Green Building Council. Thanks to a variety of innovative design features, developed by WTW Architects of Pittsburgh and TruexCullins & Partners of Burlington, the Davis Center is expected to use 52 percent less energy than a conventional building of the Davis Center’s size and 41 percent less water. The Davis Center is also itself the ultimate Vermont product. Over 63 percent of the materials used to build it were locally harvested or sourced, from the slate on its roof to the brick of its exterior. |
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2008 Hertzel N. Pasackow Award |
