Salisbury, MD

In the mid-1990s, Wor-Wic Community College was a “college without a campus,” renting classrooms and administrative space throughout downtown Salisbury on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Increasing enrollment, a growing role in the community, and a commitment to improve student facilities led the College to move to a 173-acre unimproved site convenient to students in Worcester and Wicomico counties. Ayers/Saint/Gross provided the original master and campus plans that took into consideration the extensive wetlands and lack of public sewers.

The firm then designed the Phase I building, which provides classrooms, labs, library, student activities, and administrative space. Its mass and orientation establish the edge of the academic precinct and announce the College's presence along busy Route 50 connecting Maryland's eastern and western shores.

Drawing on precedents at the University of Virginia, University of North Carolina, and Kings College Cambridge, the campus connects to the community through an oval quadrangle in front of this main building. Buff-colored brick contrasts with the heavily wooded site, and a preformed galvanized aluminum roof is similar to many farm structures in the region.

Completion: 1995
Size: 78,000 gsf
Cost: $10.59 million