Located at the node of the new center of Vanderbilt University’s campus, the Student Life Center is a piece of larger master plan whose forms gracefully resolve the conflicting grids of the streets surrounding the site. Housing event spaces and student service offices, the building’s forms are sheathed in distinct materials whose integration is realized by layering of the selected materials. The courtyard elevation is outfitted with sunscreens and a floating canopy that protects the south facing windows and provided animation with ever changing shadows that move across the façade as the sun shifts through the sky. Large masonry wrapped fins minimize glare and heat gain during the summer season while inviting the low warm sun of winter to penetrate the large windows located in the grand ballroom.