The Agora | Chamberlain Student Center

Rowan University

LOCATION

Glassboro, New Jersey

CLIENT

Rowan University

TYPE

Education | Student Center | Addition

AWARDS

2026

ACUI Facility Design Award

Inspired by the unique ecological phenomenon of its site - the Center is an Agora in the Pines.

The Chamberlain Student Center expansion is a 35,000 GSF addition to an existing student center. The expansion houses student-centric spaces such as group study rooms, casual work and study spaces, student government offices, a coffee house, and meeting rooms that reinforce Rowan University’s desire to create ‘an agora of social and intellectual discovery’ on campus.

Influenced by the unique ecological phenomenon of its site in southern New Jersey, the expansion is a biophilic response to the regional New Jersey Pine Barrens. A mass timber roof structure cascades down the sloping site and opens spatially and visually to the Campus Greenway beyond. Native plantings populate the outdoor student center plaza and indoor amphitheater reminding the occupants of their unique location in the world.