Interior design seniors take on historic Clock Tower

Wednesday, December 12th, 2007

For a final class project, Peggy Honey assigned 22 4th-year interior design students to propose new uses for the Menninger Clock Tower that was extensively damaged by vandals in 2006.

The Topeka landmark, built in 1929 in the style of Independence Hall, is part of the former home of the Menninger Foundation. Menninger Clinic relocated to Houston in 2003. St. Francis Health Center plans to develop a new health park on the 130-acre site.

Ideas developed by the K-State students include a community living center, an assisted living facility, medical offices, corporate offices, a boutique hotel and a school.

“Our primary goal is to improve the health and community and so we’re looking for ideas that would help compliment that particular mission we have,” Kim Gronniger with St. Francis Health Center told Channel 49 reporter Marshanna Hester. The Topeka ABC affiliate aired the report last week.

Honey, assistant professor in interior design, told the television reporter that working with a historical structure is more complicated than new construction. That, she said, was a part of the test.

K-State got involved when Christy Davis, who leads the Tower Coalition in promoting the value of the tower and helping St. Francis in efforts to preserve the building, contacted Barbara Anderson. An interior design assistant professor and historic preservation specialist, Anderson used the Tower Building with students in her Historic Preservation/Restoration class to teach about and apply the theory of historic preservation. Her class developed a report to guide preservation decisions made by the students in senior studio.

One goal of the interior design faculty is to give seniors projects, such as the clock tower, that are as true to real practice as possible, Honey said.

The Topeka historic building met project criteria: 1. It was a large scale, very complex and challenging project that required a high level of analytical thought; 2. It provided an opportunity to work in teams, standard practice in design firms. 3. The pressure to perform for a real client adds an extra incentive to do well.

“Our class used the preservation report created by Professor Anderson’s class as a starting point, then did additional research to thoroughly understand the needs of the different user groups,” Honey explained.

“The students prepared space plans for the entire building, making certain that all areas met applicable codes, and then developed presentation drawings,” she said.

They presented their ideas this week at St. Francis.

“Of course, presenting in a room full of people with cameras rolling intensified the whole experience,” she said.

Photo: National Trust

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 12th, 2007 and is filed under Dean's Blog.