The site for the new "Student Center Pavillion” located within the campus, is a well-used student gathering spot, nestled in mature tree groves and its historic building context. The new building, garden and outdoor gathering space sits within the historic 4’ sunken garden of the “Wakehurst Mansion” now Gerety Hall. Centered on the Gerety Hall the sunken garden was once a historically significant, formal English Renaissance style rose garden, with its original limestone steps, inscriptions, and plinths still intact.

The new "garden" space is envisioned to be an extension of the new glass building, and honors the historic garden while offering design flexibility, and sustainability. The garden is experienced at two levels. The upper level, framed by an alle of trees, and evergreen hedges that invite visitors to the building entry by a long winding walkway from the adjacent parking lot. The lower-level lush garden is only seen as one arrives at the alle and new ramp entry to the building.

The lower-level garden slopes on down to the building with varying height of seasonal plantings creating a sense of enclosure and openness.  The lower-level event space spills out from exterior doors becoming one contiguous space with the interior hall. The salvaged limestone steps, plinths, inscriptions elements from the historic garden are reused in the new garden. New material selections were made carefully to tie in aesthetically, while being sustainable. The herringbone patterned paving re-captures and stores stormwater which then makes its way to a new bioretention area and rain garden. The granite edging and a few stone steps create the event space with its backdrop of the garden and Tree alle for  weddings and future events. The lush, formal and less formal varying plants selections bring in seasonal and color while maintaining the structure of the garden throughout the year.