EHS moves into newly-renovated Westlake Hall

06/01/2012 4:14 PM

By Frank Radosevich II

We’ve moved!

The College of Education and Health Sciences has left its previous home in Campustown for the newly-renovated Westlake Hall where faculty and staff are already moving in and unpacking boxes.

Bradley’s second-oldest building begins its new life as a state-of-the-art learning facility, equipped with the latest technologies and constructed to achieve Gold certification in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The renovation, part of Bradley’s $150 million Renaissance Campaign, has expanded the building to four stories tall and six times its former size, growing from 13,500 to 85,000 square feet.

“We are so excited about this new facility. The new Westlake is really built around project-based learning for faculty and students,” said Dean Joan L. Sattler. “I think our students are going to appreciate the learning environment here.”

Dean Sattler said Westlake will include a two-story auditorium, “smart” classrooms and a variety of laboratories, as well as space for students to meet and study and faculty offices. The building will also meet LEED gold certification standards, which measures qualities such as energy savings, water efficiency and CO2 emissions reduction.

Dean Sattler added that some classrooms feature an observation booth for students as well as counseling suites that will allow therapy sessions to be recorded and the information kept secure.

The renovation of the 112-year-old building marks the fifth project in the Renaissance Campaign, which was kicked off with the construction of the Markin Family Student Recreation Center and a parking deck along Main Street followed by Bradley’s new athletic arena and the Hayden-Clark Alumni Center.