The Business Journal is reporting that SLU is planning a $35 million expansion of its law school, and the rendering looks great. If you've seen the John Cook School of Business just to the east of the law school, you'll have an idea of what the new law school will look like.



The law library at Lindell and Spring is currently a very bland buff brick building, but it will be re-clad with red brick and stone and given gothic windows and other gothic features. A new building will be built to the west of the existing school.



Construction will start when fundraising is complete, expected to be winter/spring 2009.



This will really make that stretch of Lindell look great!

I always thought SLU's law school would be a great for a downtown branch. Close to all the lawfirms.

There's a model of the expansion in the Queen's Daughters Hall. If it accurately reflects what will be built, I'm freakin' impressed. It will be huge--at least double the size of the current space. Some of you may be disappointed to learn, though, there will be demolition. The model shows a nouveau collegiate gothic structure (like Cook) that wraps around the QDH, making it the "center" of the complex. Meaning that the two buildings to QDH's west will be demolished. One of them is an historic home.



Too bad I'll be outta there before it's finished. It will really help attract elite students. SLU already has a pretty good law school, but I think its recruitment (of both faculty and students) is hurt by the rather s****y facility it's in now.

One of the homes, directly east of McGannon Hall, is already being demolished. I guess SLU will put one of their fancy surface lot's there for the time being.

That's too bad about the house - it's pretty sweet - but the overall project will be great. Now if they could just replace McGannon and the Humanities Buildings with new buildings that are similar architecturally to Cook and the new law school, the campus will really look great.

^True.



Now that the landscaping is maturing, the campus looks even better. The trees along the West Pine mall have gotten pretty large, and look great full of leaves. I wonder how big those trees will get. Anyone know what kind of tree they are? I should know, being a former boy scout. . . .

DeBaliviere wrote:That's too bad about the house - it's pretty sweet - but the overall project will be great. Now if they could just replace McGannon and the Humanities Buildings with new buildings that are similar architecturally to Cook and the new law school, the campus will really look great.

I agree. I like the houses, but I'll give them up for the expansion. I like McGannon and the Humanities building in some odd way, but I'd get over them pretty quick if they were replaced with high quality new buildings. Unfortunately, the college of public service doesn't put out rich graduates like the law and business schools do.

I just hope they time the demolitions to IMMEDIATELY precede construction. I don't want them to have years of lag- time in between or they might re-consider something and end up pulling a St. Louis switch.

MattnSTL wrote:I agree. I like the houses, but I'll give them up for the expansion. I like McGannon and the Humanities building in some odd way, but I'd get over them pretty quick if they were replaced with high quality new buildings. Unfortunately, the college of public service doesn't put out rich graduates like the law and business schools do.

Unfortunately, Arts & Sciences, of which I am a graduate doesn't either, although we can count Richard Chaifetz as one of our own!



McGannon would look better if there was any kind of landscaping in front of it. When I was a student, the university had not yet purchased the Humanities Building - it was a Salvation Army facility of some sort.



I love the fact that SLU is designing its new buildings to be cohesive with the existing historic buildings. I remember when Parks was built, I wasn't (and am still not) happy with that design.

I am actually satisfied with Parks. I think some diversity in the buildings is good. With that said, the matching row of buildings along Lindell is going to look great.

DeBaliviere wrote:

MattnSTL wrote:I agree. I like the houses, but I'll give them up for the expansion. I like McGannon and the Humanities building in some odd way, but I'd get over them pretty quick if they were replaced with high quality new buildings. Unfortunately, the college of public service doesn't put out rich graduates like the law and business schools do.

Unfortunately, Arts & Sciences, of which I am a graduate doesn't either, although we can count Richard Chaifetz as one of our own!

Well considering a lot of A&S graduates go on to be physicians, psychologists, lawyers, among other fields, I wouldn't say that it's inevitable that A&S graduates ask a lot of people if they want fries with that. Just most. (I'm an A&S grad too).

Yes, perhaps something modern.

I always thought the round part in the back looked fine, but the front definitely needed improving. Based on the rendering, this should match Cook Hall well. I think modern would have looked good, but I will gladly take the current design.

Could someone please interpret that rendering for those of us not so familiar with the SLU campus? I take it that old mansion in the center is Cupples House, but what are the other buildings? Which are existing, and which are new? What direction is the rendering facing?

Thanks Framer, I was thinking the same thing. If anyone has a picture of the block as it appears now, that would be very helpful. At a glance, the renderings are handsome and will enhance the Lindell streetscape.

I think the rendering is a view of Lindell and Spring.



The building on the left would be an expanded and re-clad version of the current law school/law library. The historic home is the Queen's Daughters building, which was renovated by the university about ten years ago or so. The building on the right would be new construction.



Personally, I'm glad that it will be built to complement Cook, DuBourg, etc. It will make the campus feel much more cohesive, kind of like what Wash U. has done with its newer campus buildings.

Wait a sec -- you mean to say they're actually preserving a historic structure? Satan must be needing an overcoat!

I'm still confused. You're saying that the building on the far left is the existing modern, buff-brick building on the Southwest corner of Lindell and Spring? Then the other buildings would stretch nearly to Vandeventer? Are all the buildings in the rendering facing Lindell? Is that view what we would see from the Coronado looking South?

Framer wrote:I'm still confused. You're saying that the building on the far left is the existing modern, buff-brick building on the Southwest corner of Lindell and Spring? Then the other buildings would stretch nearly to Vandeventer? Are all the buildings in the rendering facing Lindell? Is that view what we would see from the Coronado looking South?

Everything you say is correct, with the exception of the stretching to Vandeventer part. There's an alley there that it would go to.

Framer wrote:I'm still confused. You're saying that the building on the far left is the existing modern, buff-brick building on the Southwest corner of Lindell and Spring? Then the other buildings would stretch nearly to Vandeventer? Are all the buildings in the rendering facing Lindell? Is that view what we would see from the Coronado looking South?

Check out this map: http://www.slu.edu/campusmap/pdf_maps/s ... 1_of_3.pdf



#39 and #32 are the current law library and law school, which will be re-clad. #42 is the Queen's Daughters building (the historic home). I'm guessing that #14 will be demolished as will the non-university owned building to the left of it, and that's as far as the new expansion will go, as I can't see #30 (McGannon Hall) being torn down for this project.

The non-university owned building is now owned by the university, and already coming down. Based on the length in the rendering, it would go right up to McGannon.

^

What building is that? I'm totally drawing a blank. Is it a house like the one next to it?

It is a house. The Salvation Army had an after school thing there. Had a sort of playground on the side, with parking in the rear. Nothing significant architecturally, except the massing works well with the house immediately to the east.