Building community one glass floor at a time

When Chicago architecture critic Blair Kamin reviewed the Wabash Building 10 years ago, he wondered whether the vertical campus would foster community. It does.

Bright, enthusiastic and helpful, senior Meli Frugoli is putting her hospitality and tourism major to work early as a student ambassador. As one of the first people visitors encounter, Frugoli meets, greets and gives tours to introduce prospective students and their families to the Roosevelt experience.

In many ways, both the Wabash and Auditorium buildings speak for themselves. The second-floor bridge connects the two architecturally significant buildings, each providing prime examples of both the old and the new.
Frugoli explained that in the Wabash Building, all the classrooms, office and public spaces such as the gym, the cafeteria and the Student Union Lounge, are on the bottom half the building (floors 1 to 13), and floors 14 to 31 are two- to four-bedroom dormitories suites with bathrooms totaling 633 beds (students use their student ID to get through the manned security gate on the 14th floor). The dormitory floors have access to study rooms, a kitchen and big lounge areas with TVs and game tables.

There’s also a lending closet on the third floor where students can sift through donated casual and business clothes to find outfits for interviews or networking opportunities. And the small in-house convenience store on the second floor is open 24/7 for students to grab-and-go personal items or a snack. “It’s not uncommon to see students in their pjs riding the elevator,” she said. “This is their home.”

Because everything students need is in either one building or the other, it’s easy to never venture outdoors. “It’s just so convenient,” she said. “So, one tip I always pass along to new students is to make sure they regularly go outside to experience the city.”