The University of Kentucky College of Law commissioned Ayers/Saint/Gross to study the possibilities for creating facilities capable of meeting their needs for space, classroom configuration and a quality environment. Ayers/Saint/Gross provided several options, including the renovation/expansion of the existing facilities and relocation to a new site on campus.

The College issued a report entitled "The Case for a New College of Law Building at the University of Kentucky" indicating the severe deficiencies in the quality and size of current facilities. The College feels it is important to make improvements to meet the goals of its strategic plan.

The College established a number of goals for the new facilities, the most important being the creation of a student-oriented facility. To accomplish this goal, the College needs to improve the quality of the spaces and provide adequate room for the program requirements. This would include the creation of a series of informal student gathering spaces, which is seen as an important opportunity to generate a stronger student community. The new building would have comfortable, functional study spaces available to the students at any hour of the day or night.

Two spaces are seen as the center of the new College of Law: an exterior courtyard created by the building and a formal event space. These spaces could create a formal entrance to the College. The final goal of this project was to connect the faculty spaces physically in order to generate a stronger faculty community.

The final study was completed in conjunction with the university's physical development plan. Three sites were analyzed on the basis of cost, location, and phasing. The final site on Scott Street was included in the master plan.

Completion: 2004 (study)
Size: 221,000 GSF
Cost: $57,875,000