Overview
The Commons Building at the University of Michigan will be a 99,000 gross square foot facility consisting of six floors and a mechanical penthouse. It is one of the complex of buildings proposed as the Palmer Drive Development. The facility is designed to provide conference space, dining facilities along with retail space, and some offices.
The Commons Building will provide conference/meeting space in a 140 seat lecture hall, meeting rooms and a large, divisible banquet hall. Food service is also provided in a public deli/cafe and a retail convenience store. Offices for the Department of Public Safety, the Bioinformatics Department, and the adjacent University Central Power Plant complete the building program.
The exterior of the building is to blend respect for the traditional central campus loft style buildings of the early 20th century and the needs of a 21st century facility. The material palette will consist largely of stone, including brownstone, sandstone, limestone and granite, with painted aluminum frame windows.