Ferris State University, Library for Information, Technology and Education

Big Rapids, Michigan

Firm

Neumann / Smith Architecture

Client

Ferris State University

Area

185,000 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$39,800,000

Completion Date

04/2001

The Ferris State University, Library for Information, Technology and Education (FLITE) is positioned at the center of the campus. It acts as a social and intellectual commons, and a shared cultural space for the university and larger community.
The high-tech facility combines a traditional print library with a digital information library and a technology learning center. The building’s informal study court can stay open for extended hours when the library is closed, and offers food service and electronic hookups for personal computers.
FLITES’s function extends beyond its services to provide an architectural and symbolic center to a campus that had been lacking both. The building site became the impetus for a complete reconsideration of campus circulation and arrival systems, and the spatial relationships among the university’s component parts. The conversion of the centrally situated parking lot to campus green extended the new “heart” of the university.