The newly renovated Busch Hall is home to various departments within the school of Arts & Sciences. The renovations, completed in June 2009, consisted of gutting the building and reworking the entire interior. (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

At the south end of the Brookings Quadrangle sits Busch Hall, one of Washington University’s oldest buildings on the Danforth Campus. While its exterior today looks just as it did in 1900 when it was built, the building’s interior recently underwent its first complete facelift.

Busch Hall’s renovations, which began in May 2008 and continued until this past June, left the building closed for almost exactly one year. In that time, the building was fully gutted and reworked on the inside. It received all-new interior partitions, a new layout and architectural improvements, along with a new floor plan.

“Not much had been done to it in its 100-year history. It was probably time for some upgrading,” said Steve Rackers, director of capital projects and records. “The exterior architecture has been maintained, but it’s a building that is 108 years old. Obviously, it takes some wear and tear.”

A student walks down the second floor hallway of the newly renovated Busch Hall. (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

Busch Hall now boasts new HVAC, electrical, communication and fire alarm systems and an elevator at the building’s west end. Unlike before, there are restrooms on every floor.

“If you look at it now, it looks like a new building on the inside,” Rackers said. “It functions like a new building.”

The building’s renovation was designed with similar standards and aesthetics in mind as those for the renovation of Wilson Hall, which took place only the year before.

Busch Hall houses classrooms, lounges, meeting rooms and central office spaces for the Department of Asian & Near Eastern Languages and Literatures; the History Department; the Jewish, Islamic and Near Eastern Studies program; and the religious studies program.

The new space is intended to better accommodate these Arts & Sciences humanities programs, according to Arts & Sciences Director of Facilities Tom Simmons.

“We’ve given everyone modern and good-looking space. Lecturers have considerably nicer offices,” Simmons said. “We standardized the office spaces so that the historical serendipity was minimized.”

Many of the changes and new amenities in the building were suggestions from the building steering committee, which has faculty and staff members from each of the different departments.

“Basically, anything you’d anticipate in a modern building is all there,” Simmons said.

All the administrative offices have been moved into one central area to encourage greater faculty and staff interaction. The two departments and two programs have also agreed to share one copier and one mailroom in the central administrative space.

“This [setup] also provides a little bit of a backup, especially for the smaller programs with one administrative staff,” Simmons said. “Everyone is sharing meeting rooms in the building and lounges. It benefits everyone, and there is less departmental turf war.”

Faculty and staff office spaces have been reorganized into small clusters to replace the previous arrangement, with one department occupying an entire floor. Each department was also provided storage space.

Four soft-seating areas have been placed throughout the building to promote more casual interactions between undergraduate students.

“We wanted to provide them a spot to stop and sit down after class or meet each other,” Simmons said. “We’re hoping to make the building a friendlier place.”

Graduate students also received more space and a few other amenities, such as a small kitchen and lounge.

The project’s architects preserved as much wood as possible throughout the building, serving both historical and environmental purposes.

Simmons said he is working on putting together a history of Busch Hall to be displayed at the west end of the building on the first plan.

Busch Hall was one of the few University buildings used for the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, when the building was occupied by the engineering and architecture departments.

“I think it’s a good thing when the University reuses their buildings. That is a very green, sustainable approach in the first place,” Rackers said. “I think it really brings the building back to life.”

Phase I of construction on the South 40 will be completed with the opening of Umrath Hall and part of the new Wohl Center this fall. Left: Umrath Hall under construction this summer. Right: the architect’s rendered image of the finished building. (l: Matt Lanter | Student Life; r: Courtesy of WU Facilities)

With move-in day quickly approaching, Washington University administrators say construction of the long-awaited Umrath Hall and Wohl Center on the South 40 is going as planned.

“There are certain activities lagging, certain activities ahead of schedule, but we are overall on schedule,” said Steven Rackers, director of capital projects & records.

While masonry and landscaping are slightly behind schedule, some interior furnishing remains ahead.

Phase I of the construction will be done before fall move-in, according to Project Manager Nancy Marshall. This first phase includes the new Umrath and Wohl residential areas, a fitness center, certain stations at Bear’s Den, part of Bear Mart and a temporary dining facility.

Residential spaces will be ready for early move-in students, which includes freshman participants in pre-orientation programs, student advisors and resident advisors.

Phase II—which consists of the completion of the new Bear’s Den, an upgraded Bear Mart and College Hall, an assembly space for the residential colleges—will be done by August 2010.

Dean of Students Justin Carroll wrote in an e-mail that construction for College of Hall will start after the old Wohl is completely demolished. The University, he wrote, expects it to be done by fall 2010.

According to a description from the architecture firm Mackey Mitchell and Associates—Umrath and Wohl’s designers—the lower levels of Umrath and Wohl will feature student activity spaces to accommodate 3,000 residents and a new dining service facility.

“Modeled after European streetscapes, the site features an upper and lower plaza, which creates ‘outdoor rooms.’ Cascading stairs, ramps and a sloped garden lead from the adjacent parking garage to the lower plaza, creating a social heart for the residential neighborhood,” the firm’s description reads.

Due to the new Wohl’s LEED Silver certification, there will be other noticeable changes in Bear’s Den, such as china dishes instead of disposable ones to help reduce waste. The kitchen will use energy-efficient hoods to reduce energy use, and food wastes will be sent to a composter.

The loading dock near the dining facilities will be sheltered by a green roof that provides not only recreation space but also a vegetable and herbs garden for students to cultivate.

As for residential areas, Umrath will house 99 freshman students and three upperclassmen resident advisors. Sixty-eight of these students will live in four-person double suites joined together by a shared bathroom, 21 will live in triple units, and 10 will live in double units.

Three residential advisors and 125 upperclassmen will live in the new Wohl building. Of these, 108 will live in four-person single suites, six in three-person single suites, two in a two-person single suite and six in individual double rooms.

Wohl and Umrath’s future residents say they are looking forward to the changes that the new buildings will bring to the South 40.

“I think the new building will better the look of the South 40 since the construction will be over,” senior Brandy Randall, an RA on Umrath 4, wrote in an e-mail. “Once new Wohl is complete it will bring about new eating options as the cafeteria choices will be enhanced and the variety of food will increase.”

The excitement is enhanced by prospects of a new residential college—formed by Rubelmann Hall, Umrath and Wohl.

“Adding Wohl and the upperclassmen to a once freshmen-only residential college will diversify the types of programs we put on,” said senior Rebecca Shareff, an RA on Umrath 3. “With a new res-college comes our new mascot, the Red Umbrella Whales, and a huge source of pride and energy.”

However, with a loading dock, kitchen facilities, an expanding bookstore and the Edison Theatre, Mallinckrodt will remain as it is for the foreseeable future.
Several Washington University administrators plan to meet within the next few months to construct a long-term plan for the campus center.

The Danforth University Center (DUC), complete with a diner, café, bistro and cafeteria-style food, will take over as the main on-campus dining option.
The DUC also houses the offices of several student groups, the Career Center, the Graduate Center and Student Union.
Aside from Hilltop Bakery, which will remain on the first floor for pre-made sandwiches and pastries, Mallinckrodt will no longer offer lunch.
Steve Rackers, the manager of capital projects markets for the University, says that while no formal decisions have been made, the open space in Mallinckrodt could be used to expand the bookstore.

“We want to maintain the viability of the bookstore,” Rackers said, adding that with less daily foot traffic, the bookstore will need to become more visible to people who pass by. “There is a desire to keep pedestrians coming to the building.”

At present, the University has no formal timetable for a redevelopment of Mallinckrodt, Rackers said, because most resources are focused on a smooth beginning to the school year.
“As always, when something new opens up, there is a desire to wait for people to settle in,” Rackers said.

He anticipates that the basement in Mallinckrodt may be needed for temporary overflow seating, as the DUC will likely not be able to accommodate the rush of customers in the onset of the academic year. Rackers predicts that the crowds at the DUC will subside as the novelty of the location wears off.
While the space may be vacant now, students saw the need for a change last year.

“I think the space was depressing and somber,” sophomore Jaspur Min said, referring to the condition of the basement cafeteria as it was last year. “If they created a nice atmosphere—brighter and more welcoming—for reading and hanging out, I think it would be a great place to meet up with your friends and relax in the middle of the day.”

As is customary with most on-campus space considerations, students will be given the chance to offer their own ideas to the University before any final decisions are made regarding the open area, Rackers said.
Rackers added that a major redevelopment project, which would involve a restructuring of the bookstore and the possible addition of several offices to the building, was put on hold for the start of the school year.

Currently, the Mallinckrodt kitchen is being utilized for food preparation for the University Center.

Senior David Yanofsky thinks the space provides room for the return of an on-campus favorite of students—a bar.
“That space could best be used as a bar, as a replacement to the old Rathskeller,” Yanofsky said, referring to the old on-campus pub that once sat in the basement of Umrath Hall. “I would also be open to the idea of putting retailers like J. Crew down there.”