This domed rotunda has played an important role in the history of North Carolina State University. Designed by Hobart Upjohn in 1926 as the College’s Library, the two-story rotunda, with its marble balustrade and Corinthian columns, served as the symbol for the new campus center. In 1956, the building became home to the School of Design and took on a new use as the “jury room” for student project reviews. The addition of a new floor level and a new ceiling suspended below the dome, altered the space's original character. This 1986 renovation restored the upper dome chamber, providing new finishes, lighting and mechanical systems, consistent with the history of the space. Removal of the 1956 ceiling and restoration of the upper dome again filled the space with light, after a thirty-three year absence.
