SC State Lowman Hall Rehabilitation
The rehabilitation of Lowman Hall preserved a 1917 building designed by Miller F. Whitaker, one of South Carolina’s first African American architects, and returned it to active use after years of vacancy.
Lowman Hall carries an unusually direct connection to Whitaker’s work as both architect and educator. He taught at South Carolina State, designed the building as a residence hall for male students, and supervised its construction by students in 1917 before later serving as president of the university. After the building stood vacant for years, its rehabilitation created an opportunity to preserve a significant work by the architect while returning it to the daily life of the campus.
Rather than restoring Lowman solely as a historic artifact, the project adapted the former residence hall for a new administrative role. The rehabilitated building provided offices for university staff as well as space for the Board of Trustees and the Office of the President, placing some of SC State’s central leadership functions within a building closely tied to the institution’s own architectural and educational history.
Funded in part by a National Park Service grant, the rehabilitation preserved Lowman Hall while establishing a viable long-term use for the building. Its new program extended Whitaker’s connection to SC State beyond the building’s original residential purpose, returning a structure he designed, taught through, and helped construct to active service for the university.
This project was completed by John McLean while employed with Mcmillan Pazdan Smith.
