Faculty at the Santa Clara University School of Law are getting a major upgrade this week as they move into the school's new $60 million campus, dubbed Charney Hall.

The 96,000-square-foot building is a vast improvement over the school's existing facilities, which are spread over five different buildings, one of which was built a century ago. In contrast, Charney Hall calls to mind the nearby Silicon Valley tech campuses thanks to copious amounts of open space, natural light, cutting-edge classroom technology, plenty of student comforts, and flexible spaces that foster collaboration and innovative teaching.

Students won't start taking regular classes in the new facility until the fall, but those who have been popping in over spring break for early looks have been impressed, according to law Dean Lisa Kloppenberg. (The school plans to offer its bar review course in the new building, as well as hold several events for those on the cusp of graduation.)

“This is one comprehensive facility designed for law,” she said. “We have beautiful clinic space and we have study space throughout the building. It was designed with students as the focal point.”

The new campus boasts a first-floor coffee bar, light-filled atrium, numerous indoor and outdoor gathering places, a wellness room for nursing mothers and students with medical needs, and a meditation space that can be used by Muslim students to pray or by others looking to calm their nerves before an exam. Additionally, the building's planning committee opted against a faculty lounge, instead designing a lounge where students and faculty can dine together in hopes of fostering more interaction and mentoring opportunities, Kloppenberg said.

Planners also tried to envision how law will be taught for the next 50 years. Classrooms are wired with cameras and screens, but are also designed to accommodate different styles of teaching. One classroom, dubbed the “lawyers lab” features eight screens and flexible furniture that will allow small groups to collaborate. The school plans to use the room for conflict resolution programs as well as classes that incorporate law, business and engineering. Another room is set up to enable teleconferencing. Instead of a huge library with endless stacks of books, the library in Charney Hall is smaller, with a focus on digital materials and student study space.

Kloppenberg said she is hopeful that the new facility will help Santa Clara's recruiting, though the school has no plans to increase enrollment. (The student body and faculty have shrunk by more than a third since Kloppenberg became dean in 2013.)

“We do think this will strengthen recruiting,” she said. “It's clearly designed to welcome the law student in, and I hope it will make a big difference.”

University officials approached Kloppenberg with a proposition soon after she joined the school: They wanted to build a new center for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs at the center of campus, where the law school's outdated main building now stands. In exchange for clearing out, the university would build the law school a new home, provided it raised $25 million. The university paid the remaining $35 million cost. It sounded like a great deal to Kloppenberg.

“The students will never pay a dime on it,” she said. “We will not be paying on debt servicing.”

The building is named for Santa Clara trustee and law school alumnus Howard Charney and his wife Alida, who contributed $10 million to the project. Charney is the founder of several Silicon Valley tech companies. He co-founded digital electronics manufacturer 3Com Corp., which later was sold to Hewlett-Packard Co. Charney also co-founded Grand Junction Networks, an internet connectivity company that Cisco bought in 1995.

Kloppenberg said the new building is the first step in a long-term plan to raise the law school's profile.

“We have an ambitious vision of being one of the strongest Jesuit law school in the country—kind of West Coast counterweight to Georgetown and Fordham,” she said. “That will take a while.”