Formerly the home of the College of Journalism, the 22,650 square foot Chincoteague Hall is now the renovated and modernized home to a number of important Departments within the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSOS), including the internationally recognized Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development, the Baha’i Chair for World Peace and the Center for International Development and Conflict Management. Located on the McKeldin Mall in the heart of the Main University of Maryland Campus, the building accommodates events with lectures by Chairs and guest speakers of international prominence. In addition, the building accommodates seminar rooms and a number of faculty and graduate student offices.

MCA provided full A/E services, from programming through construction administration, for the complete modernization of the building. A challenging construction budget had to accommodate both a building upgrade worthy of the prestigious use, while also achieving a minimum of LEED Silver Certification. The Owner and design team left no stone unturned in leveraging budget dollars into a sustainable and energy-efficient design, and the building eventually exceeded expectations by achieving LEED Gold Certification – The first UMCP renovation project to do so. Upon completion, the University indicated that the building would be a model for the sustainable renovation of older campus buildings.

The last unnamed building on central campus, a lengthy list of bid alternates allowed the University to solicit naming opportunities for many individual spaces, allowing the project both to be funded to an adequate level while providing upgraded finishes in many named spaces throughout the building. The project is a highly successful and sustainable facility accomplished within limited means by the application of ingenuity and a productive client/design team dialogue.

Project Highlights

• Interior finshes in public spaces incorporated quotes from world-renowned leaders and peacemakers and incorporated custom artwork commissioned by the Owner.

• Under challenging budget constraints, the project exceeded expectation by achieving LEED Gold Certification

• The first LEED Gold Certified LEED renovation project for UMCP

• Complete renovation/ modernization - all new finishes and building systems, connected facility to district chilling and heating plant, corrected ADAAG and Code deficiencies, renovated front entrance portico

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