Construction recently began at the University of Rochester on a new Student Life building that will provide gathering, rehearsal, and programmatic space, along with a new home for the Greenbaum Center for Jewish Life. The two-story, 15,000 sf building, scheduled to open in fall 2027, addresses longstanding space constraints at the University’s Interfaith Chapel.

Built in 1970 to serve roughly 4,000 undergraduates and three religious traditions, the chapel today supports 14 religious-affiliated student groups and demand for space has outgrown what it can provide. Together, the addition of this new Student Life building, along with interior renovations underway at Interfaith Chapel, will have a positive and meaningful impact on the student experience.

The ground floor’s design is flexible to meet various student needs. An open lobby will provide a comfortable place to study or gather informally, while a ballroom that can be split into two sections can host smaller events and offer dedicated rehearsal space for the University’s dance and other performance organizations. 

Because performance groups and other student organizations have often had to share the same limited practice areas, this new rehearsal space is intended to ease scheduling pressures.

A main-level conference room and an upper-level outdoor patio round out the spaces, adding more room for activities throughout the year. Included in the building design is an elevated sidewalk lined with planters and benches that will run along the UHS Building to connect the Student Life building to Susan B. Anthony Circle. 

A lower patio with picnic tables, ground cover, and mature trees will be located between the two buildings. An upper terrace will be lined with shrubs and flowering perennials, and new, mature trees will be planted around the site.

The Student Life portion of the building is being funded by the University. The Greenbaum Center for Jewish Life is funded through donor funds.

On the project team:
Owner and/or developer: University of Rochester
Design architect: CetraRuddy
MEP engineer: PDG
Structural engineer: PDG
Landscape architecture: EDR
Lighting design: FMS
Building envelope, building envelope commissioning, energy modeling: Entuitive