Providing services for a diverse university community.
SHKS completed an integration of the Disability Access Center and Veteran Services department within Wilson Library. The project co-locates these two formerly separate groups and establishes their place within Western Washington University’s Learning Commons, which integrates teaching, learning, information, and technology resources. This project holds a range of student support spaces from counselor offices, informal gathering spaces, and both private and public testing rooms. Both spaces were designed to be easily accessible and navigable, with high acoustical performance to reduce stress in both counseling and testing spaces. The design balanced each department’s objectives with a single project budget and utilized phased construction in multiple areas of the occupied library building.