Centerpiece for Campus and Community
We worked with multiple users to design the Miller Campus Center, an inviting and comfortable gathering place that has become the center of student and community life at SMU-in-Taos. The project includes renovations to the existing dining hall, site work to improve building accessibility, and a 9,000 SF addition. The addition includes a welcoming entry, the Great Hall, which is a versatile gathering space for groups of all sizes, as well as a media center, a fitness center, classrooms, and seminar rooms. With sweeping views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on three sides and a monumental stone fireplace, the Great Hall has become a favorite venue for social, cultural and educational activity on campus. The Center’s exterior plaza provides a central outdoor space and transforms a collection of buildings into a true campus.
"The Miller Campus Center is the epitome of how we live in Taos. There is a constant osmosis between the indoors and the outdoors." Mike Adler, SMU-in-Taos Executive Director
The Center is designed to embrace its natural setting and is surrounded on three sides by a wrap-around porch. The plaza, portals and deep porches provide outdoor areas for lectures, discussion and reflection and erode the distinction between indoor and outdoor spaces. The wide terrace and tiered steps of the Plazuela invite students and visitors to linger before entering the Center. On the north and east sides of the building, a portal overlooks a winding mountain stream and a patio provides outdoor seating for the dining hall and seminar room.
Project Team
Structural Engineer: Chavez-Grieves Consulting Engineers; MEP Engineer: M&E Engineering; Landscape Architect: Morrow Reardon Wilkinson Miller; Civil Engineer: Morey Walker & Associates Engineering; Interior Design: Creative Interiors; Photography: Kate Russell, Imran Mansuri
