Funded by a generous capital grant from the state of Maryland and gifts from the Freeing Minds campaign, Mellon Hall has undergone a transformation that re-establishes this multipurpose building as the academic, social, and creative heart of the Annapolis campus.

Signature elements of Neutra’s iconic design remain intact, but the lobby of Mellon Hall now opens into a welcoming commons area, and the Winiarski Conversation Room has been greatly improved in both acoustics and ADA accessibility. The popular student gathering space, the Fishbowl, has been upgraded to a more comfortable setting for deep discussion, private study, and faculty-student meetings. New additions include a beautiful light-filled studio theatre for the performing arts, located backstage of the auditorium, and an adjacent music rehearsal room, both outfitted with state-of-the-art acoustics.

Read more about the Mellon Hall project here.

Our Annapolis residence halls are cherished and often historically significant spaces—but time has taken its toll on many of these buildings. Many of our residential buildings need significant work, including new flooring and furniture, modern HVAC and electrical systems, ADA access, and better lighting and plumbing. We took an important step through the Freeing Minds campaign with renovations to Fielding-Rumore Hall (formerly Randall Hall), but this was only the first step.

Through the Pritzker Challenge and the generosity of the Jay Pritzker Foundation, the Annapolis campus is crafting a plan to refresh our residence halls, with Campbell Hall the next to be renewed.

The renovation will improve ADA accessibility, modernize the infrastructure, and make Campbell Hall a destination for students seeking great conversation. The bookstore and coffee shop will move from Humphreys Hall and McDowell Hall, respectively, to Campbell Hall’s lower level, facing the new Mellon Hall outdoor terrace and events space.

Work on this mixed-use building will begin in Summer 2023 and continue through 2024.

The Annapolis campus participates in a number of initiatives and partnerships that help to ensure our natural spaces endure for future generations of Johnnies. Our campus improvement plans are continuing this trend.

For example, over half the funding for the Mellon Hall renovation was devoted to making the largest academic building on campus significantly more energy efficient. We upgraded the HVAC and electric systems and added LED lighting, a greener alternative to fluorescent lighting. Daylight and occupancy sensors have been added to renovated spaces to reduce carbon footprint. Plumbing and restroom upgrades were also completed to help conserve one of the earth’s most valuable resources and one that is inextricably intertwined with Annapolis life: water.

Our improvement plans in Annapolis are being undertaken with an eye to respecting the rich history of our campus while also meeting modern standards of comfort and safety.

Throughout the Mellon Hall renovation, for example, the college coordinated closely with the Maryland Historical Trust and with the City of Annapolis Historic Preservation Commission to preserve and retain the historic character of this building—one of the few remaining east coast examples of architect Richard Neutra’s creations. Several original features, including the exterior planter and outward-facing walls along the north lobby, had lost original Neutra character setting design—such as the low-level plantings and expansive glass exposure created to highlight a connection between inner and outside spaces. These design features have been carefully restored in the most recent renovation.

By 2024, the electricity needs of the Santa Fe campus will be met entirely through solar energy, thanks to a Freeing Minds gift from two anonymous alumni and an energy audit supported by the Class of 2019.

In early 2023 the campus installed ground-mounted solar arrays and covered carports housing a combined total of 1,670 photovoltaic panels. Once operational, they will generate 100 percent of the electricity used by the campus and power 20 electric vehicle charging stations. Excess energy will be fed back into the local grid, enabling the campus to draw from that supply on rainy days.

The project is expected to yield energy savings equivalent to the annual energy use of 167 homes and make the Santa Fe campus close to carbon-free.

Work has now begun on a major renovation that will reinvent the Pritzker Student Center (formerly the Peterson Student Center) as the social heart of the Santa Fe campus. Students will enjoy comfortable new lounges for study and conversation, a more spacious coffee shop that connects to an expanded bookstore, and enhancements to the student-run performance venue, the Cave.

Everything that distinguishes this building, from the Territorial Revival architecture to our treasured works by designer Alexander Girard, will be wonderfully refreshed and renewed. Additionally, without a major renovation since 1964, the building will undergo important safety and accessibility improvements that will better meet the needs of our community.

Read more about the Pritzker Center project here.

In addition to going solar, the Santa Fe campus has undertaken numerous other projects that benefit our beautiful high desert environment and yield cost savings for the college.

The gift that funded the solar initiative also gave us the means to install energy-efficient LED lighting—a much greener alternative to fluorescent tube lighting—in all campus buildings and along our outdoor walkways. We also updated the electrical systems in several buildings and installed high-efficiency boilers in others. These additional efforts provide annual electricity savings of more than 358,000 kW/h and dollar savings of $55,000.

Other initiatives the college would like to pursue, but which depend on gifts to the Pritzker Challenge, include an all-electric campus vehicle fleet and a focus on conserving an increasingly scarce resource: our campus water supply.

Recognized by architectural digest as the “prettiest college campus in America,” the cohesive aesthetic vision of our Santa Fe campus also helped earn it a spot on the National Register of Historic Places. The Pritzker Student Center in particular is a destination for architecture and design fans from around the world, thanks in no small part to our territorial revival architecture and the renowned work of midcentury modernist designer Alexander Girard.

Central to our campus improvement plans in Santa Fe is the careful preservation and restoration of Girard’s masterpieces and the distinctive architectural style of our campus.