MAYOTTEgroup Architects

Continuing a tradition of investing in historically significant buildings and locations in Lansing’s downtown, the Cooley Center is the result of a complete reconfiguration of the Commerce Center, a fourteen-story office building constructed in 1970. To accommodate the interior design and systems needs of the Owner, the building was structurally transformed into a ten-story facility by removing 8 of the 14 floors and building 4 new floors in the resulting voids; all remaining floors were reinforced for higher structural loading. The glass exterior of the original building was completely removed and replaced with a reinforced masonry wall system featuring brick and limestone accented by two-story expanses of glass curtain wall. The Cooley Center house the law school’s administrative and faculty offices, in addition to it's Trail Practice Center and classrooms.