Nearly five months after University administrators sent plans for North Quadrangle back to the drawing board, a second architecture firm has been selected to revamp the complex's exterior design.

The University recently hired the New York-based firm Robert A.M. Stern to serve as lead designer on the combined academic and residence hall complex project. Einhorn, Yaffee, Prescott - the original team of architects - remain on the project, said Philip Hanlon, associate provost for academic and budgetary affairs.

A schematic design of the complex was expected to be presented to the University's Board of Regents for approval this past March, but the project was pulled from the agenda at the last minute because University officials were dissatisfied with the complex's exterior design and overall feel.

Hanlon said that University administrators wanted the building's facade be more welcoming.

During the meeting, Timothy Slottow, the University's Chief Financial Officer, said that based on conferences with University administrators, the project was not ready to be presented to the regents.

University officials later announced that the complex's opening would be delayed by one year, until fall 2010.

Hanlon said University officials still hope to meet this schedule. New schematic plans may be ready to be presented to the regents as early as this fall, he said.

Costs are also expected to rise above the $137 million estimated budget originally approved by the regents.

The University will not have new cost estimates until the firms present the schematic plans to the regents, Hanlon said.

Hanlon said the firms will try to keep the interior plans of the building similar to the original design, which included a full-service dining hall, several study lounges and a video wall for global conferencing.

Keeping Einhorn, Yaffee, Prescott on the project means that Robert A.M. Stern will be able to seek advice about how the interior needs to be laid out, Hanlon said.

When completed, North Quad will be the first new residence hall the University has built in 35 years. The combined dormitory and academic space will stand on the block of East Huron Street, State Street, East Washington Street and North Thayer Street, replacing the Frieze Building.

The demolition of the Frieze Building, which was slated for this summer, has been delayed until the fall.

Hanlon said the complex's overall aesthetic is especially important because of its location on one of the corners of Central Campus.

The complex will be the northern "gateway" to Central Campus, he said.

"It needs to welcome people in from both sides, from the community and campus as well," Hanlon said.

Specifics of the new design are still undetermined, Hanlon said. He added that the new complex also must have continuity with other campus landmarks including the Rackham school of Graduate Studies, which will be located next door.

Robert A.M. Stern and Einhorn, Yaffee, Prescott previously collaborated on campus to design Joan and Stanford Weill Hall on the corner of Hill Street and State Street. Expected to open this fall, the hall will house the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.

Robert A.M. Stern on the North Quad project.

While North Quad is to be the northern "gateway" to Central Campus, Weill Hall is often billed as the southern gateway to Central Campus.

The hall's "Michigan" red brick gives it an overall appearance similar to the Michigan Union, Hanlon said. The firm's work on Southwest Quadrangle, a similar academic and residence hall complex at Georgetown University, also contributed to the decision to hire Robert A.M. Stern, Hanlon said.

Although University alum and employee David Fulmer said he hoped that the Frieze Building would not be torn down, he said the new firm may make North Quad's design more fitting.

"I'm looking forward to the new design," he said. "I like Robert A.M. Stern and I like Weill Hall."

University officials hope to preserve the Carnegie library attached to the Frieze Building if possible.

Robert A.M. Stern has previous experience preserving other Carnegie library collections across the country. "One of the objectives is to appropriately memorialize the Frieze Building," Hanlon said.