The consolidated facility will house 12 cultural centers and academic/campus life departments. Reflecting its multiple uses, the center will be layered from public to private spaces with a large, flexible lobby, classrooms and multi-purpose rooms on the ground floor; a social lounge and the cultural centers on the middle floors; and quieter, more private spaces on the upper levels.
Since opening in 1963, Assembly Hall has been an icon on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. The Cannon/Moody Nolan/Arup design team was one of four shortlisted as part of a design competition. Major elements of the renovation work were to include lowering of the event floor, the addition of fan suites, new bowl seating and enlarging the concourse for additional concession space. The building is historically significant as one of the finest expressions of the “modern” architecture of the period. Additions housing much needed amenity space were carefully planned as four new “pods” creating corners on the round structure that alleviate the tightness of the concourses but do not interfere with the folded plate dome. A new entry pavilion is gently carved into the terrain providing multi-level access.