HOK names studio space inside revitalized Seaton Complex.
Historic architecture is often equated with charm and beauty, and Kansas State University’s Seaton Hall is no exception. However, the 107-year-old home for the College of Architecture, Planning & Design badly needed to be revitalized, alumni agreed.
“The light had dimmed,” said Tom Waggoner ’82, managing partner for HOK, a global design, architecture, engineering and planning firm based in St. Louis, Missouri.
Seaton Hall, largely unchanged since Waggoner’s days as an architecture student, was no longer a selling point in an increasingly competitive college recruiting environment.
“In the world of recruiting, there are a lot of factors behind why students go places,” Waggoner said. “If you’re in high school and you understand anything about an architecture program, you know you’re essentially going into a place where you’ll be living, in a sense. You’re going to be spending a lot of time there, and you want it to be a nice place.”
When the college announced plans to revitalize and expand Seaton Hall, HOK joined dozens of alumni and corporations in making a gift to support the project. As a member of the college’s Dean’s Advisory Council, Waggoner said he looks forward to the completion of the Seaton Complex project in 2017.
“It will be nice to have a distinct front entrance for the college,” he said. “I think the design is a little bold and different and something our campus needs.”
Opportunities still remain to name a space in the Seaton Complex. Learn more by visiting apdesign.k-state.edu/about/seaton/ or contacting Damon Fairchild at 785-775-2086 or damonf@ksufoundation.org.
