A German architecture firm known for its progressive, environmentally friendly buildings in countries across the globe has been chosen to build the new law school anchoring redevelopment of the University of Baltimore campus.
Behnisch Architekten, of Stuttgart, Germany, in partnership with Baltimore’s Ayers/Saint/Gross Inc., was selected from five companies from the U.S. and Europe to design and build the $107 million, 190,000-square-foot building overlooking Interstate 83 at Charles Street and Mt. Royal Avenue.
For many at the rapidly expanding school, the new building will show the type of education given on the inside.
“For a long time, we were kind of the best-kept secret,” said Byron Warnken, who has taught at the school for 36 years. “We’re trying to keep the secret no more.”
The building Behnisch has planned would be several stories taller than other buildings in the area, serving as the first landmark that train travelers at Penn Station notice when entering the city.
The top two floors of the 12-story building would house a law library, with classrooms and trial rooms below. In addition, the building will use natural ventilation, reflective panels to maximize sunlight and an eco-friendly roof.
“This building is just a magical moment in the history of the law school,” said Phillip Closius, dean of the law school.
The law school was founded in 1925 as part of the private, nonprofit university. The school added a full-time day division in 1969, and in 1975, when the university joined the University System of Maryland, the law school became a public institution.
Now the sixth-largest public law school in the country, Warnken marveled at how far it has come. “I watched the school grow up,” he said.
But the existing John and Frances Angelos law center, named after the parents of alumnus and Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, is several hundred students over capacity. Built in 1982, the square, gray building sits across from the university’s new student center, which is at Mount Royal and Maryland avenues.
“We love the school,” said Anne Akhila Rubins, a second-year law student. “We’d just like it to have a face-lift.”
The university also is planning a redesign of the streetscape on campus, along with more student housing and a redeveloped plaza in front of the current law school building.
Angelos donated $5 million to help fund the law school, the state contributed $92 million and the school must raise the remaining amount.
The school will enter contract negotiations with Behnisch before construction begins in the summer of 2010. The building is slated to open for the start of the fall semester in 2012.
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