2022 | UNC Chapel Hill – Curtis Media Center | Chapel Hill, NC
The Curtis Media Center at UNC Chapel Hill added nearly 13,000 SF of new space as an annex to Carroll Hall, home to the School of Media and Journalism. The new building is situated on the footprint of an existing building adjacent to a heavily used pedestrian corridor in the heart of the main campus.
The University’s vision for this project is to create a showcase building – an architectural “jewel box” that features one of the University’s flagship programs, invites the public and prospective students to learn more about the School, enhances the curriculum, and strengthens the building-to-open space connection for the faculty and staff users. The three-story building features a high-tech broadcast studio, a podcast studio, a maker-space and four state-of-the-art classrooms.
Programmatically, the design aligns with University-wide initiatives to develop interdisciplinary collaborations. UNC currently operates six academic maker-spaces, each in different schools of study, and spaces within Curtis Media Center will operate similarly to a maker-space. The first-floor broadcast studio activity is on display via a floor-to-ceiling wall of glass along the east side of the building. A 16-by-9-foot high-definition LED screen on the opposite studio wall is visible through that eastern wall of sound-insulating glass. The building design is optimized for flexibility and adaptability and to house professional production quality space and equipment for faculty and students to collaborate and create together.
The Renewable Energy Special Projects Committee, (RESPC), a student resource group, funded the installation of 60 panels to provide 25.2 kW of solar energy on the roof of the Curtis Media Center. These panels provide approximately 40% of the building’s energy, which decreases the building’s reliance on fossil fuels and helps it operate using a cleaner and more sustainable form of energy.