Design focusing on daylighting and wellbeing benefits students, faculty and the University of Maryland School of Public Policy’s Do Good Institute

Thurgood Marshall Hall, home to the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, stands at the heart of a new entrance to campus as a highly visible symbol of the university’s dedication to serving the public good. A magnet for public discourse and a hub for social innovation and nonprofit leadership, the four-story building brings together more than 90 faculty members and 1,000 students formerly dispersed across four separate facilities. It also houses the Do Good Institute, a not-for-profit incubator that’s the physical manifestation of the University’s mission to become “the nation’s first Do Good Campus.”

Our design team incorporated a wide variety of sustainability features into this LEED® Gold building, and wellness was a special focus. Every office and collaboration space has direct access to daylight, including those spaces that are located partially underground because of the unique grade of the site. Natural light is also incorporated into the design of the auditorium as a key feature, distinguishing the space from every other large, windowless lecture hall on campus.

A unique shading system for the East and West building façades ensures custom inner window pane shading based on exact building location and orientation. This ensures a maintenance-free, energy efficient, high-performing building envelope. Private faculty spaces are provided with operable shading systems for adjustment and automated systems in public areas automatically adjust throughout the day for optimal comfort.

A recent post-occupancy study validated the effectiveness of this design. Professors, staff and students reported high levels of satisfaction with the environment, ventilation, temperature and other key measures. The views, the quality of light and ventilation all rated highly for employees and instructors. And respondents particularly enjoy the rooftop terrace, an open natural space that houses events that is connected to the library space with an operable exterior wall partition that ensures seamless indoor-outdoor connectivity.

Thurgood Marshall Hall is already serving as a magnet for scholars, practitioners and experts from campus, the State of Maryland and around the world, as they gather to teach, to learn and to lead public policy in the 21st century.