The Historic Shepard Building has been used by the State of Rhode Island to house numerous educational programs for decades, given its central location in the City of Providence. With our expertise in historic structures and our 20 year relationship with URI, BTGA was the obvious choice to help the State renovate the building as needs changed.

Designs have included specialty research labs, upgrades to the Paff Auditorium, a review of their daycare facilities, and the creation of flexible learning spaces. URI was in search of establishing a bigger presence for their students in the building. As part of this effort, BTGA helped relocate their bookstore from an internally located, repurposed classroom on the second floor to directly off the lobby on the first floor. We incorporated windows to fit within the historic fabric of the lobby that allowed the store to be seen from the exterior and invite students and the public in. The casework was designed to maximize flexibility with moveable carts and full-length wall displays, and we installed flooring that simulated carpet while providing the durability and cleanability of a high-traffic area like this one needed. We carefully designed graphic walls into the space to optimize visibility from the lobby and street so there is no question you are at URI.