Vermont Student Assistance Corporation

Design of a public resource center, both welcoming and inspiring to students and their families.

The goal of this project was to create a welcoming and inspiring public Resource Center which appealed to VSAC’s core audience – Vermont students and their parents. The project included the fit-up of a new 5 story office building to house a customer service center, 60,000 sf of office space, video conferencing/training rooms, a full service cafe and kitchen, and a fitness facility. We designed a productive, open office layout with a core of meeting rooms and facilities to allow maximum access to natural light and provide a comfortable and inspiring place for employees to work and socialize. The Resource Center serves as a library, technology resource, career and financial counseling center. We selected a blend of unique design elements that conveyed both the soaring possibilities of higher education and the grounding nature of finance. The library book stacks and computer carrels provide the traditional educational elements and the curved forms of the wood, steel, and stone reception design, high-tech track lighting, and canopies provide a contemporary and fanciful counterpoint. Throughout the project, we also acted as VSAC’s clerk of the works to coordinate design and construction of the exterior shell and collaboration with the surrounding downtown development of Winooski.