University of Southern Maine McGoldrick Center for Career & Student Success

University of Southern Maine McGoldrick Center for Career & Student Success

The McGoldrick Center for Career & Student Success serves as the campus’s social heart and living room with amenities including a 300-seat dining hall, student lounge, bookstore, and café/pub. The Center houses a Career & Employment Hub and a 4,500-square-foot multipurpose room to host career fairs, employer presentations, and networking events with local business leaders.

Natural and rugged building materials and mass timber design tie the building to the essence of the state of Maine and the City of Portland. As a LEED Gold-Certified building, the Center achieves the university’s sustainability goals: embracing renewable low-carbon building technologies, waste diversion, and strategies to maintain healthy living and working spaces.

Anchoring the transformed campus is a new, one-acre central quad, a former commuter student parking lot. The open and gently sloping lawn is a signature open space for students to congregate.

Design Partner: Elkus Manfredi Architects

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Client
University of Southern Maine
Location
Portland, ME
Square Feet
40,953
Completion Year
2023
Awards
AIA Maine Design Award, Institutional/Commercial, 2024 AGC Build Maine Award, Building Division, 2024 AGC Construction Risk Partners Build America Award, Building New $76 million to $125 million, 2024
Engineering News-Record Excellence in Sustainability Merit Award, 2024 Society of American Registered Architects, National Award of Honor, 2024 Society of American Registered Architects, New York Chapter, Design Award of Merit, 2024 Architecture MasterPrize Award, Educational Buildings, 2024 MEREDA Notable Project Award, 2023
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The 250-seat dining hall within the Student Success Center features multiple seating options, with the flexibility to support groups and foster social interaction, or the convenience of a quick meal between classes. Tall ceiling heights and windows allow for plentiful natural light, and thoughtful circulation paths between the dining room and servery allow for maximum seating while prioritizing wayfinding and flow. Freshly prepared meals will support a variety of dietary needs.
The first floor offers amenities, including a 300-seat dining hall, student lounge, bookstore, and café/pub.
A student café and pub featuring a two-story stone fireplace looks out over the front porch and newly created lawn, enhancing the spirit of community and cultivating connection year-round.
The second floor is devoted to career services, including a new home for the Career & Employment Hub, with an office suite for the USM’s Career Services advisors; a 4,500-square-foot multipurpose room to host career fairs, employer presentations, and networking events with local business leaders; private rooms for employers and students to meet for in-person and online interviews.
The Husky Dining Room, a private dining room that sits in the southeast corner with views over the quad and into the first floor of the center.
Tall ceiling heights and windows allow for plentiful natural light.
Designed with the imperatives of sustainability and accessibility, the two new buildings are cornerstones of USM’s master plan to attract and retain highly qualified students and faculty.
With the cost of photovoltaic array solar panels at an alltime low, incorporating on-site renewable systems into designs is more feasible than ever. A new quad and a courtyard include bioretention swales as part of this project.
Photography by Trent Bell.

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