Towson University in Northeastern Maryland is a classroom facility integrating alternative learning and social environments within the formal classroom program spaces of the building. The site is a sloping meadow ringed by mature stands of trees and oriented westward to vast open views. Inspired by the powerful rural landscape of the site, the building is designed as a ‘learning garden’. Two masonry wings are lodged into the slope as rock formations creating a central commons between them. 

The central commons is an extension of the sloping meadow. This space is visually and physically connected to the land and makes the academic center inextricably tied to its location. The central commons ‘learning garden’ offers students the space for collaborative and social learning. The academic center is on track to achieve a LEED-Silver certification through a ventilated rain screen façade, solar shading and bio retention.