The design of Wynn Commons provides a unifying sense of arrival, place and enclosure. Gateway markers announce a transition into the Quadrangle within the historic fabric of the campus. An amphitheater and a rostrum at opposing ends of Wynn Commons complement new building entries. The Commons is edged by low retaining walls to encourage gathering and sitting. Inscriptions, images, and pattern applied to elements of the landscape add further visual and aesthetic interest.
Handicapped access is provided throughout the complex of buildings.
Service yard improvements at Irvine, with a tunnel connecting to Houston, facilitate and help conceal building servicing. The sense of place and of community continues inside the buildings. Houston Hall is being restored to its former grandeur and to resume its original purpose. College Hall's entrance onto the Commons, sealed for decades, will be reopened, focusing the Office of Graduate Admissions onto the Commons and making Perelman Quadrangle the first destination of prospective students. The great hall of Irvine Auditorium is being adaptively restored as a multi-seat performance hall with variable capacity ranging from 400 to 1200 seats.