Announcements May 17, 2022

Groundbreaking Ceremony for the new Communication Arts and Humanities Building at Bowie State University

May 10th was an exciting day for the Bowie State community, and a milestone for the Martin Luther King Jr. Communication Arts & Humanities building as we gathered to celebrate the project’s groundbreaking! This new 184,000 SF academic building will welcome and connect students across various fields of study and is designed to inspire collaboration and interaction. The building will house the Department of Communications, Language, Literature & Cultural Studies; the Department of History and Government; and the new headquarters for the University’s ROTC program.

Remembrance through Design: The culmination of a lengthy collaboration with Bowie State, the design seeks to communicate “the road to the future begins with you.” A prominent feature is a façade in which the exterior materials create a pattern which evokes Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s voice and his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech calling for “courage to face the uncertainties of the future.”

The DC studio collaborated with the Atlanta studio on the design, landscape architecture, and branded environments, as well as with Whiting-Turner on this design-build project. The project is targeting LEED Gold certification.

Part of the design for the new building includes an enclave on the 2nd floor of the Student Inflection, which serves as a memorial to Lt. Richard Collins III, an ROTC candidate at BSU whose death in 2017 was the result of a hate crime. A two-story image of Richard will be etched into felt panels and seating directly in front of the image provides an opportunity for students to collaborate, socialize, and remember Lt. Richard Collins III.
The site for the building is adjacent to the existing MLK Building, which will be demolished once the new building is complete. The shape of the plan draws upon the existing campus edges, while enhancing current landscape features and creating new campus spaces. Although the shape is informed by the location of the existing MLK Building, its placement encourages the building to become a natural extension of existing pedestrian pathways and to enhance the connectivity that already exists to the surrounding community and amenities. The auditorium—which is at the south end of the building—is visible and accessible to both the campus and community.

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