Living-Learning Community & Entrepreneurship Center

Bowie State University

Location Bowie, Maryland
Partners Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions, MEDCO

The Entrepreneurship and Live-Learn Community is a 6-story building comprised of student housing with lounges and studies above a mix of ground floor uses. The ground floor is comprised of a prominently located Entrepreneurship Center, a retail space, classroom spaces, flexible meeting/study spaces and lounge spaces for residents.

A sweeping curve of metal, glass, and light brick celebrates the Entrepreneurship Center and opens to the retail plaza and parking beyond. This glassy volume promotes transparency and vibrancy to encourage activity and collaboration between the academic, retail, and residential amenity uses. It also serves as a beacon, drawing in residents, faculty, and the greater community.

Two five-story red brick and metal residential wings contrast the glassy volume and frame the amenity plaza. A glass and metal link celebrates the connection between juxtaposing volumes while also providing a central location for core elements. The residential wings are broken down by a layering of materials and varying glazing patterns. The last residential wing inflects and is terminated by a series of stacked and glazed incubator lounges that will highlight the gateway and main entry to the campus.

The heaviness and textural quality of the residential units is balanced by the use of glazing on the ground level to highlight the amenities. Amenity spaces are highly visible and strategically front the urban plaza, terrace, and woods. The glazing is used to frame other key moments, such as the student lounges, RA units, and studies above, and aids in breaking down the scale of the residences. These translucent glazed boxes mark important nodes that create shared moments for communities to interact, while seamlessly positioned to allow for circulation. This allows for added transparency, continuity, and enlivened spaces.

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