SM&W Contribution
Shen Milsom & Wilke (SM&W) provided audiovisual and IT infrastructure consulting services for the $2.4 million renovation of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Speech and Hearing Science (SHS) Building, originally constructed in the mid-1970s. The project was part of a campus initiative to repurpose underused facilities, expanding its scope to improve research, teaching, and departmental visibility.
The renovation encompassed more than 5,300 GSF of second floor space vacated by the Speech-Language Pathology Clinic, transforming former clinic interview and observation rooms into modern, discipline-specific research laboratories, a large meeting/conference room, and office space to accommodate faculty growth. The scope also included 350 SF of restroom modernizations on the 1st-floor to meet ADA guidelines and campus standards, along with 1,950 SF of recently acquired floor area repurposed for administrative offices, reception, and instructional space.
Additional improvements provided enhanced laboratory and student workspaces, as well as flexible meeting spaces of varying sizes designed to support seminars, research presentations, and faculty meetings. Administrative offices were relocated to the first floor, improving accessibility and functionality while creating a more welcoming lobby environments for orientations, prospective student visits, and graduation receptions.
One of the project’s main challenges was designing flexible conference and seminar spaces that required technology capable of adapting to different use cases and furniture coordination with the University’s technology team to ensure all end-users’ needs were met. Final systems and infrastructure included distributed loudspeaker systems, ceiling microphones, projections, and wireless presentation technology. Installation was completed successfully to the client’s satisfaction.