Journalism Home Base

The University of Maryland College Park is celebrating its first green building on campus, John S. and James L. Knight Hall. The facility, which has a goal of LEED gold certification, acts as a home base for the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Once spread throughout multiple centers, the journalism program now rests under one roof.

The new 53,444-square-foot facility includes a two-story Great Hall; classrooms; computer labs; a teaching theater/audio broadcast studio with TV-production capability; four 18-seat news labs; three seminar rooms; offices for faculty, staff and graduate students; a professional-outreach center; an executive boardroom; and multiple meeting spaces. After the initial construction was complete, a decision was made to add Studio C for a flexible, multimedia lab that combines audio, broadcast and Web storytelling applications in one space.

Green elements of the project include a rainwater-harvesting cistern, energy-efficient mechanical systems and a high percentage of recycled content material. More than 75 percent of the construction waste was diverted from a landfill.

Architect for the project was Grimm and Parker Architects (Calverton, Md.). Construction manager for the project was J. Vinton Schafer and Sons (Abingdon, Md.).