Michigan State University, Law & Business Library Building, Home of Detroit College of Law

East Lansing, Michigan

Firm

SSOE, Inc.

Client

Michigan State University

Area

185,000 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$22,000,000

Completion Date

08/1997

The Detroit College of Law (DCL) needed to quickly vacate its downtown Detroit facility and occupy a new facility by the start of its 1997 academic year. Programming, design and construction documents were completed in less than seven months.
DCL’s new home is located in a five-level building on the Michigan State University (MSU) campus. It accommodates law-library facilities, lecture halls, faculty and administration offices, and a library for the MSU Business School.
Clad with brick and limestone, the building design is harmonious with adjacent academic buildings and residence halls. Expanses of glass allow natural light into the building, providing vistas of the campus. Its basic form approaches a square, resulting in an economical and energy-efficient structure.
The building is equipped with access floor systems, cable trays, flexible power and data cabling systems. The building computer network includes terminals in each office, docking ports in each study carrel, library reference terminals and docking stations at each seat in lecture halls.

Photographer: ©Cris Burkhalter and ©Stephen Graham