Vasey Hall
Graduate Center
Vasey Hall housed Villanova University’s theater department until 2019, when the university set out to repurpose the black box theater wing into the Center for Graduate Research and Education. Comprised of a mix of offices, conference rooms, and double-height event space, the Center provides a new hub for graduate and law school students that complements the school’s strong undergraduate campus culture.
Built in the 1930s, Vasey Hall sits on the main quad and connects easily to the other central dining and student hubs. Large arched-top window openings in the theater were finally uncovered and refitted with new energy-efficient windows, and the addition of a mezzanine allowed these windows to flood the wing with light.
The ground floor required significant efforts to modernize the building to the campus’ current utilities and infrastructure, in addition to regrading of the sloped theater floor. Accessible connections were created to the new and existing building levels, acoustic treatments were designed for the new office and conference room walls, and the insulation of the exterior walls was upgraded while preserving the original collegiate stone look echoed throughout the campus.
