The University of Windsor's CAW Student Centre is a product of a fundraising partnership between university students and the CAW (Canadian Auto Workers) - the first of its kind in Canada. This expansion and remodelling of the earlier Student Centre - a patchwork of additions dating from the 1960s - houses a diversity of elements: pub, cafeteria, games room, lounges, study and meeting rooms, studios and offices for the campus radio station and newspaper, auditorium, counselling services, health clinic, and shops.

The social heart of the new University Centre is the Commons - a two-storey light filled space that functions as a 'town square' where students can gather to watch performances, listen to forums, and participate in impromptu events. Enclosed on three sides by a 'townscape' of diverse elements - a portal leading to a major conference room, the main information desk, and a kiosk that announces the cafeteria - the Commons opens out to a sweeping view towards Detroit of the Ambassador Bridge with Assumption Church and its copper roof in the foreground.

Along the east facade, where the original building turned its back on its neighbours, the rejuvenated building bows to the surrounding context. A copper-topped tower joins other towers in the area and beckons to students approaching from the Quadrangle. A colonnade gives a new edge to the Quadrangle and picks up the rhythm and scale of neighbouring Dillon Hall.

Originally conceived as a way of achieving maximum effect with minimal funds and space, the new 12,000-square-meter Student Centre is now a key building on campus.