Students groaning about 8:30 a.m. classes in the Physical Sciences Center don’t have anything to complain about, at least according to OU’s architecture students.

For the next two years, students in the College of Architecture will have to travel off campus to learn.

The old Hobby Lobby building on West Main Street is the classroom for these students while Gould Hall undergoes renovation.

Commuting from campus to Main Street has created problems for some students and professors.

“The professors are understanding,” architecture sophomore Kolton Barnes said. “One of them told us, ‘Class starts at 1:30 p.m. Be here by 2 p.m.’”

To avoid being late, architecture sophomore Malcolm Whitt built his class schedule with an hour-long lunch break before his 1:30 p.m. studio class.

“For people who have a class right before this, it would be awful,” Barnes said.

The location separates many students from activities occurring on campus.

“I feel disconnected from the campus,” Mary Grace Livingston, interior design sophomore said. “I like being on campus and having the ability to walk to the Union.”

Administrative offices are also not as convenient for students. The offices are located across Main Street in a strip mall.

“It is inconvenient that the professors are located across the street,” said Lydia Frost, interior design senior. “We have a very personal relationship with them and we can’t just stop in. Instead, we have to ask for them at the front desk and wait for them to walk us back to their office.”

Although students are unhappy about some things, parking is not an issue many are complaining about.

Josh Carel, architecture senior, said a parking permit is not needed and students can come and go without worrying about losing parking places.

One learning advantage the new building presents is a combined studio for 2nd-, 3rd- and 4th-year students, which allows students to see what projects upperclassmen are working on, Barnes said. Studios were previously separated by year.

“You get to see what to expect in other years of architecture,” Barnes said.

Carel said at other architecture schools, like Harvard’s, also have combined studios.

Students have mixed opinions about the white walls, high ceilings and industrial feel of their environment.

“It is a much nicer building than what we had before, definitely an upgrade,” Frost said.

However, other students do not appreciate the simplicity of the building.

“Hobby Lobby is kind of depressing and doesn’t fit us too well, but I know that [the administration] is doing the best they can for us,” Carel said.

Although most students do not have any large complaints about the facility physically, Frost said she is worried that noise might become an issue.

She said there is a 2-foot opening between the wall and ceiling for air circulation and thinks there might be problems when classes need quiet and other students are talking.

Students are looking forward to the completion of the two-year renovations, but some are skeptical of the timeline.

“Two years means four, it always does,” Whitt said. “I am looking forward to the new building, but it depends on if I will even be here when it reopens.”