MEDIA RELEASES

Dominican University opened this fall Parmer Hall, a 124,000-square-foot academic building housing state-of-the-art laboratories for biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, and nutrition and dietetics as well as classrooms for the humanities. The building is serving as a central hub for the university’s largest freshman class in history; almost a third of whom have indicated they plan to pursue degrees in the sciences.

While containing high-technology laboratories and adhering to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) criteria, Parmer Hall seamlessly blends with the collegiate Gothic look established in the early 1920s by Ralph Adams Cram, the renowned architect also known for designing buildings at the University of Chicago, Princeton and West Point.

The building, which was designed by Holabird & Root, the firm revered for creating the “ Chicago School” of architecture, uses the same blend of variegated stone as Centennial Hall, a residential facility opened in 2004, and incorporates such Gothic elements as a pitched roof, bay windows and numerous arches on the façade.

Following the university’s commitment to environmental stewardship, the building uses an energy-efficient mechanical system with heat recovery and automation programs and occupancy sensors. A storm management system delivers rainwater from the roof of the building to a bioswale filled with layers of soil compost and stones that hold water until it can naturally percolate into the ground. The bioswale is covered with planting that blends with the landscaping of the building.

The university has used building materials manufactured locally to reduce energy consumption in transportation and low pollution-emitting materials were used for paints, sealants, adhesives and carpets.

Great care was taken in limiting the number of trees that had to be removed for the construction of Parmer Hall. The building was specifically configured in a way that avoided removal of many of the most mature trees on the west campus. Those trees that had to be taken down were recycled to make furniture and crosses for classrooms. In addition, 218 trees were planted in the area.

Parmer Hall contains the university’s new Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence as well as a new diagnostic center for the School of Education’s 20-year-old educational assessment program, a popular resource for local families. The new building also offers an assistive technology classroom for use by teacher candidates needing strategies and resources for working with students with a variety of learning styles and abilities.

The Academic Enrichment Center centralizes student services such as the university’s writing center, career services, an international studies office, tutoring services and an expanded office of internships.

Parmer Hall represents a major commitment to Dominican University’s future while remaining loyal to the relationship-centered values upon which it was founded in 1901.