ALookatKnightHall

KnightHallishometothecompetitivePhilipMerrillCollegeofJournalismattheUniversity
ofMaryland.Completedin2010,KnightHallproudlyservesasUMDsfirstLEEDGOLD
GreenBuilding.LEEDstandsforLeadershipinEnergyandEnvironmentalDesign.The
contractingteam,GrimmandParker,andUMDsOfficeofSustainabilityworkedtogetherto
incorporateecofriendlybuildingtactics,suchasusingrecycledconstructionmaterialstobuild
the53,400squarefootbuilding.
GrimmandParkerusedacombinationofmoderninteriordesignswithsustainablefeatures
throughoutKnightHall.ConstructingaLEEDbuildingpresentednonewchallengetothe
contractingteam.Infact,GrimmandParkerbuiltthefirstLEEDcertifiedMarylandpublic
elementaryschoolandtothisdate,theyhavecompletedover35LEEDcertifiedprojects.
KnightHallcontainsanadvancedwatersystemthatreduceswaterusagebynearlyhalfanda
wallofwindowsallowingnaturallighttoshinethrough,reducingelectricityconsumption.
AccordingtotheUMDOfficeofSustainabilitywebsite,97percentofthewasteproducedduring
construction,suchasconcreteandasphalt,weresuccessfullyrecycled.Additionally,31percent
oftheconstructionmaterialswereboughtfromlocalsuppliersintheMarylandandVirginia
areas,whichdecreasedtheamountofenergyusedtotransporttheconstructiongoods.
ConstructionisapartoftheUMDcampus.KnightHallstartedatrendbothinits
architecturalandenvironmentalefforts.OaklandHall,whichopenedin201l,isLEEDcertified
andcontainsmanysimilararchitectureinnovationsasKnightHall.Notonlydoesthis
demonstrateUMDsinterestinsupplyingstudentswithinnovativeandadvancedlearning
centers,butalsotheimportanceofpracticingsustainableeffortsthroughoutthecampus.UMDs

formerdirectoroftheDepartmentof
CapitalProjects,CarloColella,ensured
thatallconstructionplanningwould
includesustainabilityasatoppriority.
CurrentUMDconstructionprojects,like
TheHotelandtheEdwardSt.John

Knight Hall during the daytime. Photo from Google images

LearningandTeachingCenter,arefollowingthestandardsthatKnightHallhasset.
TheconstructionofKnightHallalsobeganacampuswidetrendofsteeringawayfrom
UMDstypicalarchitecturestylethatconsistsofbrickGeorgianbuildingswithwhitecolumns
thatlineupMcKeldinMall.Currentconstructionprojects,includingtheNewColeFieldHouse,
arefollowingamoremodernarchitecturalstylethatmanyuniversitieshaveadaptedto.This
trendingarchitecturestyleincorporatesabrickexterior,transparentwindows,andanopenfloor
plan.
MajorprivatefundersofKnightHallincludeJohnKnight,JamesKnightandPhilipMerill.
TheKnightbrothersarecofoundersoftheKnightFoundation,whichsupportstransformational
ideasthatpromotequalityjournalism,advancemediainnovation,engagecommunitiesandfoster
thearts.Theirfoundationdonated4.4milliondollarstotheconstructionofKnightHall.In
return,thebuildingwasnamedafterthem.
BradBillington,sophomorejournalismmajor,sharedhisKnightHallexperience.
Billingtonsaid,IloveKnightHallbecauseitoffersanamazingenvironmentwithadvanced
broadcasttechnology.BillingtonwillinternatNewYorkCitysNBCStudiesthissummer.

SincethedevelopmentofKnightHall,UMDhasprovedthatitisaresearchinstitution
thatisseriousaboutprovidingstudentswithmodernandcomfortablelearningcenterswhile
keepinginnovativeandsustainablefeaturesinmind.ThisongoingtrendshowsUMDs
willingnesstosucceedinallareas.