Stone Center for Black Culture & History Opens on UNC Campus

Lew Myers
919.941.9790

09/30/2004

$9 Million Campus Cultural Center Designed by Architects The Freelon Group

Chapel Hill, NC...The new Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History opened this semester on the campus of the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. Designed by architects The Freelon Group, The Stone Center works with numerous departments of the University to promote interdisciplinary inquiry and to broaden the understanding of African-American culture.

Supported by architecture blending traditional Chapel Hill campus elements with traditional West African and African-American features, the new Stone Center is designed to welcome all students. "Our center has a mission and a legacy to celebrate, but it also must be a space that is comfortable for everyone on campus," states Dr. Joseph Jordan, Director of the Stone Center for Black Culture and History. "We want to enrich the social and intellectual climate of the university while encouraging a greater understanding of the people of the African Diaspora," he explains.

To that end, the building contains a 360-seat theater, a dance studio, an art gallery and museum, a library, office spaces, a computer lab, and multimedia classrooms. Students might attend a class at The Stone Center by day, and a theater performance in the evening. They might browse the lending library for materials pertinent to the lives of African-Americans, or enjoy an art exhibit in the museum. This eclectic mix of cultural programs, research, community service, teaching, and learning is rare among university campuses.

"The challenge in designing The Stone Center sprung from our desire to reflect the vision of the building's stakeholders," reports Phil Freelon, FAIA, president of The Freelon Group. "We needed to create a classic university building that could serve as an extension of the surrounding campus. We also sought to celebrate the unique cultural legacy of African-American students, artists, faculty and visitors," Freelon states.

Named for the late Dr. Sonja Haynes Stone, an associate professor widely known for her efforts to give minorities a more meaningful voice in campus affairs, The Stone Center's pivotal role is expressed in many ways. It is located where the old traditional campus meets the new science and medical center development. The Center is set within Coker Woods, one of the few remaining wooded areas on the campus. The site of The Stone Center was developed with as little disruption as possible to the adjacent forest.

African-American design elements in the Stone Center are visible alongside classic Chapel Hill architecture. The rectangular building's brick exterior and regularly spaced windows blend seamlessly with surrounding academic structures. But the cylindrical auditorium is a three-dimensional reference to the African form of a drum. Tapered columns adjacent to the main lobby are inspired by traditional West African architecture. Inside, the three-story Stone Center features the hues and patterns of traditional African textiles in the wood-paneled lobby and in the terrazzo floor patterns.

Project Facts
Owner/Location: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Architect: The Freelon Group, Philip G. Freelon, FAIA, principal
Completion: September 2004
Size: 44,500 square foot, Freestanding building; 3 Levels
Budget $9 million